GAG: The Galaxy Angel Guys!
by Chibichurro
Summary: A series about the guys of Galaxy Angel, featuring other minor characters from the game and manga. Read about their missions and their fight against evil! Completed!
1. Ep 1, A New Show is Born, Er, Created!

**Intro:** This story revolves around the guys of Galaxy Angel, namely, Takuto, Lester, and Kuromie. The story is based on the manga, rather than on the anime. (I tried basing this on the game too at first, but have given up since even the game and manga have huge differences between them.) Since these characters are so unpopular, I've decided to make this fanfiction in tribute of them. I tried my best not to make them OOC, but sometimes, I can't help it, since they are such minor characters. I own and have read all of the original GA series. (GA and GA Beta) These first four chapters are in script mode, since I had already written them on paper like that—sorry. Starting with chapter 5, they no longer are in script mode.

**Notes:** Anything between () is description/action, and sentences with a number (#) next to it are notes that will be explained at the end of the fanfic. Or you could scroll down to it while you're reading.

**Legal Stuff:** Galaxy Angel does not belong to me. It never has and never will be. The manga, anime, and game all belong to Broccoli. The beautiful artwork of the manga and game is created by and belongs to Kanan.

**A New Show is Born—Er, created!**

(There is a stage in the middle of a dark room. Suddenly, a lone spotlight shines on the stage, revealing a microphone on a stand. An old man with light brown hair and bright blue eyes walks up to it. Although he is old, he seems strong and energetic. His name is Luft Weizen.)

Luft: Greetings everyone! My name is Luft Weizen, and I shall be your host for tonight. Today is a very special day, because we will be unveiling a brand new show. The producers of Broccoli decided, since the Galaxy Angel anime was so famous, that they would release yet another series based on it. (1) However, instead of focusing on the girls, we will be focusing on the guys in the manga version of GA (Galaxy Angel) instead. Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for, it's time to introduce our new main characters! First off, Takuto Meyers!

(The rest of the lights turn on, as a man of 21 runs onto the stage from the side. He has brown eyes, bluish-black hair, and is wearing a captain's uniform. He also has a cheesy grin on his face.)

Takuto: Hoo-Ha!

Luft: Next up, Kuromie Quark!

(A young teenage boy with brown hair and light blue eyes runs onstage holding a space whale calf(2). The boy is wearing a green and white uniform complete with a poofy hat. He holds up the space whale calf.)

Kuromie: Don't forget Space Whale Jr.!

Space Whale Jr.: Mew.

Luft: And last, but not least, it's Lester Coolduras!

(A man of about 22 calmly walks onstage. He has silver-white hair and grey eyes with an eye patch over his left. He is wearing a loose red shirt and a long cloak that reaches to his ankles. He doesn't look too happy.)

Lester: (sighs)

Luft: (to the gang) Alright guys, you know the drill.

Takuto: We-

Kuromie: -Are-

Lester: (somewhat annoyed) -The-

All: Galaxy Angel Guys!

(Everyone says it enthusiastically, except for Lester, who has a bored expression on his face.)

Luft: Alright, now it's time to fill you in on the series. It will follow the adventures of these three-

Voice: Just three?

(The voice happens to belong to Prince Shiva, who slides in. Shiva has blue hair and eyes, and is wearing an elaborate blue-and-white gown/robe.)

Prince Shiva: I want to be a member of the Galaxy Angel Guys too!

Luft: (nervously) Now, now, your highness, we already went over this. You can't become a member because you have to train to become the next king!

Prince Shiva: Please? (Puppy dog eyes)

(For a moment, it seems like it's working as Luft's face goes soft, but then he brushes it off)

Luft: No! Absolutely not!

Prince Shiva: (angrily) Fine! This leaves me no choice! As Prince of the White Moon (3), I COMMAND you to let me join.

Luft: (sweatdrops) P-prince Shiva, you have to understand…

(Takuto, Lester, and Kuromie exchange nervous glances at each other.)

Prince Shiva: (he raises a fist) If you don't let me join, I will-

Voice: You will do nothing.

(This time, the voice belongs to the Moon Goddess Shatoyan, a beautiful woman with light green hair and purple eyes. She is wearing a long pure-white gown. She walks in, but since her feet are concealed by her dress, she seems to be gliding.)

Shatoyan: As a prince and future king, Shiva, you must remember not to abuse your power.

Luft: (relieved) Ah, Moon Goddess Shatoyan! You came just in time.

(Takuto gawks at the Moon Goddess's beauty while Lester gives him an angry glare, which promptly makes Takuto stop.)

Lester: Don't count on asking the Moon Goddess on any dates-she's busy enough as it is.

Takuto: (sweatdrops)

Kuromie: Shh! (He points toward the place where Luft, Shiva, and Shatoyan are still talking.)

Shatoyan: So what do you say, Shiva?

Price Shiva: (suddenly depressed) I'm sorry...

Luft: (smiling) I forgive you.

(As Shatoyan leads Shiva off the stage, Luft picks up where he left off.)

Luft: Now where was I? Oh yeah! The series will follow the adventures of these three guys. (He motions to them and they wave somewhat unexcitedly) We will be following them through their normal lives as they fight evil! (Luft punches a fist in the air)

Takuto: (does a double-take) Wait—Fight evil? That wasn't listed in the contract… (He takes out a pile of papers and flips though it)

Kuromie: (nervously) …So does this mean that this show is live, and not just acting?

Luft: (whispering) Don't worry, just act normal!

Lester: (sarcastically) What IS normal?

(Luft gives him and angry glare and Lester quickly shuts up)

Luft: ANYWAY, see you next time for the grand premiere! Buh-bye!

(He quickly walks offstage.)

Takuto: (whining) But I don't wanna fight evil!

(He also walks offstage. Kuromie follows him while holding Space Whale Jr. but doesn't say anything.)

Lester: I have a bad feeling about this…

(He too walks offstage, and one by one, the lights flicker off. Soon, there is only one lone spotlight shining on the microphone, and then—total darkness.)

(To be continued…)

**Additional notes:**

1. Once again, I DO NOT OWN GA! I don't own Broccoli either. I just needed a way to start off the series. Yes, I will continue writing this for a while, so expect more coming soon!

2. Space whales are whales that don't need water to breathe. And they can float, bounce, and make cute animal noises!

3. The White Moon is a special planet that has great technology. Prince Shiva will later become king of that planet. Shiva is currently being raised by the Moon Goddess Shatoyan.

**Updated Final Notes: **(I'm adding these in mainly to point out additional stuff (i.e. make fun of it) and mostly for my own amusement.)

Oh god this chapter is so bad, I'm sorry. I really did mean for this to be kind of "show" at first, but I ditched the idea (and script mode) after chapter 4. Missions are way more interesting, anyway.

Also, Takuto just kind of pulled the script out of hammerspace there. Good job, Takuto!


	2. Ep 2, The GAG Get Off to a Rocky Start!

**Notes:** Anything between () is description/action, and sentences with a number (#) next to it are notes that will be explained at the end of the fanfic. Or you could scroll down to it while you're reading. Also, the "?(!)"s in the story are supposed to represent a question mark and exclamation mark put together, but since this site doesn't allow them, I had to put the exclamation mark in parentheses...

**Legal Stuff:** Galaxy Angel does not belong to me. It never has and never will be. The manga, anime, and game all belong to Broccoli. The beautiful artwork of the manga and game is created and belongs to Kanan.

(Slightly more funny than the first!)

**The G.A.G. Get Off to a Rocky Start!**

(Takuto, Lester, and Kuromie are all sitting/standing in a very high-tech room with many computers and screens dotting the walls. There are automatic sliding doors, computerized appliances, cool gadgets, and buttons—lots and lots of buttons. They are all set on one wall in a multitude of colors. The room is fairly big with three beds in the corner, a room with a kitchen, and a bathroom. Takuto is looking around like a kid in a candy store, Lester is leaning back in a chair looking bored, and Kuromie is sitting on the ground playing with Space Whale Jr.)

Lester: I'm BORED.

Kuromie: (Petting Space Whale Jr.) Why don't you watch T.V.?

Lester: (sarcastically) Oh, that's a great idea! Except for one thing… (suddenly angry) I don't know where it is! (He motions agitatedly to all the screens covering most of the walls of the room)

Kuromie: Oh… (sweatdrops)

Takuto: If we're going to live here for the rest of this series, they could've at least given us a manual…

Lester: Nah. Who reads those things anyway?

Kuromie: (quietly yet angrily) I do…

Space Whale Jr.: Mew.

Takuto: (scratches head) Hmm… Do you think I should press a few buttons?

Kuromie: (hesitant) I don't know. It could be danger—

Lester: (jokingly) What if this whole place blows up?

(Lester realizes the mistake of what he says too late as Takuto and Kuromie look at him in fear.)

Lester: (smiling weakly) Umm, I was just kidding?

Takuto: (takes a deep breath) Well, here goes…

(Takuto reaches slowly towards a large dark green button, and then quickly punches it and just as quickly draws back his hand, as if the button was on fire. The gang waits for a moment in silence, and then—the toilet flushes.)

Takuto: HUH?(!)

Kuromie: (blinks)

Lester: (flustered) Why the heck would there be a button to flush the toilet from out here, when the toilet is IN there?(!). (He motions to a door with the words "Bathroom" printed on it.)

Kuromie: (sweatdropping) You guess is as good as mine…

Space Whale Jr.: Mew.

Takuto: (now relieved and excited) Hey, that was pretty cool! Now I wonder what this button does!

(Quickly overcoming his fear of the effects of the buttons, he eagerly presses a small orange one. One of the screens starts flashing.)

Computerized Voice: You have one new message. To play it, press the button again.

Takuto: (surprised) We have a phone?

Kuromie: (Holds up a strange contraption with a dial tone noise coming out of it) Um, I think this is it.

(Takuto presses the button again, and the video message plays. On it is a man of about 26 with long blonde hair and glowing red eyes. He is wearing a long gown of black and purple. It is no other than Eonia Traansbaal.)

Eonia: Greetings, my friends; or should I say, enemies? (flashes a wicked smile)

All: (shocked) Eonia!

Lester: I should've known…

Takuto: (confused) But you didn't.

Lester: (backhands Takuto)

Eonia: (Continues on as if nothing has happened) No matter. I'll still have the same goal. To capture Prince Shiva and regain my true role! As king! Muhahaha! No matter where you go, I will be watching! No matter what you do, I'll be watching! No matter what you say, I'll be watching! I will always be one step ahead of you! I will find out all your secrets! Nothing is safe from me! For I am Eonia, the true prince! You will regret the day you ever went against m—

Computerized voice: Message ended.

All: (sweatdrop)

Kuromie: I guess Eonia's message was too long to be fully recorded…

Lester: That's the least of our worries! We have an evil villain to deal with already! And this is only our premiere episode!

Takuto: Don't worry! Nothing can stop us! For we are the G.A.G.(!)

Lester: That's our codename?(!) GAG?(!)

Takuto: No! Not gag! It's pronounced G-A-G! G.A.G.(!)

Lester: (not very happy) Either way, it still spells out the word "gag."

Kuromie: Well, our team name IS the "Galaxy Angel Guys," so…

Lester: (angrily) What kind of uncreative idiot thought that up?(!)

(Far away, Luft is drinking coffee while watching the premiere episode from his spaceship.)

Luft: (spews out coffee) (angrily) HEY!

(Back in the room…)

Kuromie: Anyway, I guess we should be out saving the world now.

Takuto: Yes—AFTER my bath. Dibs on the bathroom!

(Takuto quickly runs into the bathroom and slams the door shut in Lester's and Kuromie's faces as they stare on speechless. Soon after, we can hear the shower turn on. Lester then calmly walks to the green button and presses it. The toilet flushes.)

Takuto: AIEEE!

Lester: (grinning evilly) I think I like this place.

Kuromie: (sweatdrops) Umm…

Space Whale Jr.: Mew...

(To be continued!)

(No annoying addition notes this time—yayness!)

**Extra: Character Bio!**

Takuto Meyers:

Age: 21

Height: 5'5"

Rank: Captain/Colonel (also commander of the Elle Ciel, the spaceship that the manga and game story takes place in.)

Gender: Male

Looks: Although Takuto is 21 years old, he looks like an 18 year old. He has bluish-black hair, and brown eyes. He wears a captain's uniform (main colors being red, blue, and white), with a blue cape that reaches to his waist.

Personality: Although he is a Captain, he takes things rather calmly. There seems to be nothing special about Takuto, but people seem to respect him greatly. He is clever, good at board games (particularly chess), kind-hearted, and has a thing for girls.

My opinions: Takuto's personality is quite easy to follow, so hopefully, he'll never be OOC. Funny, but I used to hate Takuto, although now he's my second favorite character. Lester's my favorite. XD

**Updated Final Notes:**

I kind of miss the short, gag-type jokes here, actually. It silly and stupid, but hey, it was fun! Sadly, once I abandoned script-mode, those gags didn't work so well.

I've considered just getting rid of the character profiles, but I put quite a bit of effort into researching them to make sure they're accurate, SO YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO READ IT, DOGGONNIT!

…Or, you know; just skip it if you wish. That's cool with me.


	3. Ep 3, Well, Ya Gotta Start Somewhere!

**Notes:** Anything between () is an action/description, and sentences with a number (#) next to it are notes that will be explained at the end of the fanfic. Or you could scroll down to it while you're reading.

**Legal Stuff:** Galaxy Angel does not belong to me. It never has and never will be. The manga, anime, and game all belong to Broccoli. The beautiful artwork of the manga and game is created and belongs to Kanan.

**Well, Ya Gotta Start Somewhere!**

(It's a new day, but Takuto and co. are still sitting in the same room with all the gadgets and buttons. Takuto is still toying around, Lester is still bored, and Kuromie is still playing with Space Whale Jr.)

Lester: (he sighs) I'm b—

Luft: (Suddenly appears through the doorway) Hello! Just thought I'd drop by!

(The three G.A.G. members jump up in surprise at their unexpected guest.)

Luft: (laughing) You guys sure are jumpy today!

Lester: …That isn't funny.

Luft: (still laughing)

Takuto: So—Professor Luft? What are you doing here?

Lester: (annoyed) It's general Luft now Takuto! (sighing) Idiot…

Luft: Don't worry about such petty matters. I'm here to give you guys your first mission!

Kuromie: ...We have missions now?

Luft: Of course! Who wants to just watch three guys sit around all day?

All (referring to Takuto, Lester and Kuromie): (sweatdrop)

Luft: From this day forward, I shall be giving you all of your missions. But before that, I have to give you your gadgets!

Takuto: (happily) We get gadgets too?

Luft: But of course!

Lester: As long as it's a weapon, I'll be happy.

Kuromie: (sweatdrops)

Space Whale Jr.: Mew.

(Luft moves to a table in the room. He presses a button on the side, and the tabletop flips over to reveal a bunch of items.)

Luft: First off, laser guns! One for each of you!

Lester: Finally, something that fits my taste.

(Lester takes his happily. The others are a bit more cautious with theirs.)

Luft: These guns shoot powerful beams of energy at the target. They are lightweight, durable, and waterproof. When full on power, they can shoot up to thirty beams before they need to be recharged again. When you hold down the trigger, you can charge your gun to unleash a more powerful beam. But be careful, you'll waste more energy that way.

Takuto: (holding his like it's some kind of bomb) How accurate is their aim?

Lester: (jokingly) Hold still and let me see.

(Lester raises the gun and aims it at Takuto's head as Takuto "tries" to hide behind Kuromie.)

Luft: Quit it! There's no time for games. Next up, these multi-purpose watches!

(Luft hands one to each of the team members.)

Luft: Not only do they tell the time, they also monitor the surrounding area temperature, humidity, and air purity. They also have built in holographic maps, can illuminate surroundings, and they also tell you how many enemies are nearby. One size fits all.

Kuromie: (is testing out his) Now this will come in handy!

Luft: And last, but not least, these high-tech backpacks!

(Luft hands out the backpacks. Apart from being silver-colored, and having many flaps, they look pretty normal.)

Takuto: What's so high-tech about these? They look pretty normal to me.

Luft: Never judge a book by its cover. These backpacks were specially designed to hold any item, no matter how big or bulky the item is. They are waterproof, fireproof, and won't even corrode in toxic chemicals. However, they can only hold fifty items at a time, so don't put in anymore than that, or they'll explode.

Takuto: (sweatdropping) We'll try to remember that.

Kuromie: Is that all?

Luft: That's all.

Lester: (Suddenly serious) So what's the mission?

Luft: Okay, listen up because I'm only going through this once. I need you guys to go to planet Dox(1) to get a special package for me.

Kuromie: Planet Dox? Isn't that the most high-tech planet in space?

Takuto: But…I thought the Elle Ciel(2) was pretty high-tech…

Lester: They have robots in the shape of humans.

Takuto: Robots? Now that is pretty high-tech!

Lester: (sweatdrops) Can we please just go now?

Kuromie: Um—how? We don't have a spacecraft to get there…

Takuto: And the Elle Ciel is being repaired…

Luft: Not to worry! I have a spacepod that you guys can use!

(Luft presses a button on his coat, and a trapdoor opens in the floor to reveal a brand new spacepod. It is white, has shiny black windows, two missiles located at the sides, and a giant laser gun located on the front. It's also very glossy.(3))

Lester: Now that's my style!

Kuromie: It's beautiful! (wipes away a tear from his eye)

Takuto: Thank you, Professor Luft!

Lester: (really annoyed now) It's GENERAL Luft!

Luft: (Ignoring Lester's comment) Ha, ha, anytime. Just remember, don't scratch it—(loud booming voice) OR ELSE!

All: (sweatdrop and then do a salute) Yes, sir!

(Takuto and co. get in the pod. One of the walls of their base open up to the outside, and the spacepod zooms out and into space. Luft is then seen waving through the window of the G.A.G. base.)

Luft: Ha, ha, kids these days…

(to be continued…)

1. Planet Dox is a planet I made up myself. It isn't in the GA story.

2. The Elle Ciel is the spaceship where the original Galaxy Angel storyline took place on.

3. Arg! I'm so bad at spaceship descriptions, so you'll just have to make due with my lame—er—description...

**Extra: Character Bio!**

Lester Coolduras:

Gender: Male

Age: 22

Height: 6'1"

Rank: Major (also vice-commander of the Elle Ciel)

Looks: He has whitish-silver hair, grey eyes, with a large eye-patch over his left eye. He wears a long white and black cloak with a loose red shirt inside and baggy grey pants.

Personality: Calm, sharp-witted, and slightly skeptical. Despite being the vice-commander, he seems to be more serious and hard-working than the captain (Takuto) even. He also knows martial arts and fencing. He has been friends with Takuto ever since the Academy (a school). It may seem like Lester treats Takuto badly sometimes, but in fact, Lester greatly respects him and is only trying to do what's best for him.

My thoughts: Lester is my favorite character out of the Galaxy Angel guys, and it's quite easy to keep his personality right. However, I did think he acted a bit too OOC in this episode… "Now that's my style!" Gah, that quote is painful to read but I couldn't think of anything else... (sobs)

I wish Lester wasn't such a minor character. He doesn't appear enough in the GA mangas in my opinion.

**Updated Final Notes:**

…Yes, the "Now that's my style!" quote still makes me cringe even now—almost five (six?) years later.

The only reason I introduced those backpacks is to handwave where the guys are putting and pulling out all of their stuff. It never gets mentioned again—heck, they don't even wear it! (based on descriptions in later chapters) Though to be honest, I don't think they ever need to use it on any of their later missions…


	4. Ep 4, The First Mission's Always a Dozy!

**Notes:** Anything between () is an action/description. Also, the "?(!)"s in the story are supposed to represent a question mark and exclamation mark put together, but since this site doesn't allow them, I had to put the exclamation mark in parentheses...

**Legal Stuff:** Galaxy Angel does not belong to me. It never has and never will be. The manga, anime, and game all belong to Broccoli. The beautiful artwork of the manga and game is created and belongs to Kanan.

**Remember—The First Mission's Always a Dozy!**

(We now see Takuto, Lester, and Kuromie in the spacepod heading for the planet Dox. It is very cramped with only one chair in it at the steering wheel. Takuto is sitting in the chair, driving, while the other two try to make themselves comfortable with whatever space they have left.)

Space Whale Jr.: (weakly) Mew...

Lester: (sweatdrops) Do you have to bring that thing everywhere you go?(!)

Kuromie: ...Yes...

(The spacepod then bounces off a shooting comet and lunges dangerously. Kuromie and Lester have to hang onto whatever crevices are in the wall of the space pod not to lose their balance.)

Lester: Takuto! What ARE you DOING?(!)

Takuto: (much too happily for their current situation) Driving!

(Lester and Kuromie fall to the floor with a "crash"—Anime style!)

Kuromie: (trying to stay calm but failing to) Takuto, I don't mean to be rude but—Where the heck did you get your license?(!)

Space Whale Jr: Mew!

Lester: (Jokingly) Do you even have a license?

Takuto: Umm... (sweatdrops) No.

Lester & Kuromie: (SHOCK HORROR)

Lester: (In a low voice) We're doomed...

(We can then hear the screams of Lester and Kuromie as the spacepod goes into hyperspace. Meanwhile...)

(Eonia is looking out the window of his space ship when he sees a white dot zooming past.)

Eonia: (surprised) Sherry! Give me info on that spacepod!

Sherry: Roger!

(Sherry is a woman in mid-twenties who works for Eonia. She is very loyal to him, and one could even say that she is in love with him. She has pinkish-white hair and a scar running down the left side of her face.)

Sherry: Sir, the spacepod belongs to the Galaxy Angel group and is being manned by three people by the name of Takuto, Lester, and Kuromie. They are headed for the planet Dox.

Eonia: Hmm, probably to pick up an important package, no doubt. Follow them.

Sherry: (smiling) Your wish is my command sir.

(Meanwhile...)

(Takuto and Co. are hurtling towards a blue planet. It is none other than the planet Dox.)

Lester: (To Takuto) DO SOMETHING!

Takuto: (Clutching at the steering wheel frantically) I am! I am!

Kuromie: Before I die, I just want to tell you guys... I love you! (1)

All: AHHH!

(KA-POW! The spacepod crash-lands into a barren ice field. The door of the spacepod slowly opens and the crew gets out one by one.)

Takuto: WE'RE ALIVE! (he skips around joyfully)

Lester: Good, because now—I WILL KILL YOU!

(He chases Takuto around in circles around the spacepod until Kuromie puts a stop to it by blowing a whistle that is hanging on a chain from his neck.)

Kuromie: (angrily) Stop it! Let's not try to kill each other at least until the second mission, okay?

Lester: (angrily) Fine.

Takuto: (groans)

Kuromie: Alrighty then, I'll stay here and check the pod while you two go off and get the package.

Takuto: Don't you want to come with us?

Kuromie: Yeah, but—(suddenly in a dark manner) Trust me, space whales and robots—they don't mix.

Takuto: (freaked out) O—kay...

Lester: (not amused) Whatever. Come on, Takuto, we don't have all day.

Takuto: Coming!

(Takuto and Lester start walking north, with Lester in the lead. After a few steps, they come to a dune, and as they near the top...)

Takuto: Wow, Lester! It's a whole city of lights!

Lester: Yup, that's the city of Dox for you.

(The city of Dox is enclosed in a HUGE glass dome. There are hundreds of skyscrapers, and highways wrapped around it. There are hovercars flying about inside like flies, and multiple spaceships are being shot into space.)

Lester: We should get moving now.

Takuto: (enthusiastically) Roger!

(As Takuto and Lester head toward the city of Dox, Eonia is sitting in his space ship, planning their—um—doom.)

Eonia: Are the ships in position?

Sherry: Yes sir, everything is in order, just as you wished.

Eonia: Excellent. When the G.A.G. take off from planet Dox, we'll ambush them and take them prisoners! I can't believe I thought of that plan myself!

Sherry: (sweatdrops and then mumbles to herself) You didn't... I did...

(Anyhoo, back to Takuto and Lester. They are now inside the large dome and are currently making their way to the center of the city. Lester is studying the hologram map emitted from his watch while Takuto sight sees. They are nearing a grand fountain with many nozzles shooting streams of water in sync to classical music. There is a woman standing there. She has on a dark blue uniform.)

Lester: Well, I think this is the place.

Takuto: Hey look! I think we receive the package from her!

(He is about to point to the woman, but Lester slaps his hand away.)

Lester: (annoyed) It's rude to point.

Takuto: (sweatdropping) Sorry...

(Takuto and Lester walk up to the woman. She begins to talk in a computerized voice.)

Woman: (In a computerized voice) Greetings! Welcome to the city of Dox. My name is Marie.

Lester: (surprised) Whoah! You're a robot?

Takuto: (grabs her hand) But you feel REAL!

(Lester grabs Takuto by the collar and drags him back in annoyance.)

Lester: Down boy. Now you're hitting on robots? That's just sick.

Takuto: But I wasn't—!

Lester: Anyway, we're here for a package for General Luft. Do you have it?

Marie: Please state your first and last names.

Lester: Wha? But—

(Takuto manages to free himself from Lester's grip.)

Takuto: (happily) I'm Takuto Meyers!

Lester: (quickly regaining his composure) Lester Coolduras.

Marie: Please hold still while I verify your identification.

(A beam of blue light shoots out of Marie's eyes and scan Takuto and Lester. They both seem shocked all the while. Then the beam disappears.)

Marie: Access verified. Please take your package and good day.

(She then turns her back to them, and a compartment opens up in her back. Inside is a 3 by 3 inch box. Lester and Takuto look and each other and Lester slowly takes it. The compartment then closes up and Marie turns to face them.)

Marie: Good day.

(She then walks away as Takuto and Lester look on.)

Lester: Well then... Let's go. Kuromie's waiting.

(He then shoves the package into his pocket and breaks off into a run with Takuto jogging behind. Meanwhile, Kuromie has finished patching up the pod. It no longer looks new. Lester and Takuto meet up with him just as he is putting up the last patch.)

Kuromie: Sorry, I tried the best that I could but...

Takuto: (sweatdropping) Do you think Professor Luft will notice?

Lester: (sarcastically) Gee, ya think?

(They once again pile into the now broken down spacepod and it shakily takes off. Takuto is driving again.)

Lester: Hey, why are you driving again?

Takuto: Two reasons. One, you're too big for this chair, and two, Kuromie's not old enough to drive.

(Lester and Kuromie look at one another.)

Lester: ...Good point.

(The pod rockily starts going into hyperspace. Eonia's fleet is waiting for from the side.)

Kuromie: Are you sure that it'd be safe to go into hyperspace with our pod in this condition?

Space Whale Jr.: (from the window) Mew! Mew!

Kuromie: What? Eonia's fleet is right behind us? And they're gaining speed?

Lester: (also looking out the window) Holy cow! He's right! Takuto! Step on it!

Takuto: I'm trying, I'm trying!

Kuromie: Hurry! They're starting to shoot!

(Indeed, they are.)

Lester: (grimly) They shield won't last much longer... Takuto! Doesn't this ship have weapons?

Takuto: Oh yeah! The laser canon!

(He presses a button and the laser on the front shoots out a red beam. It hits many planets and bounces off each one with a pinball machine-like sound. Finally, the laser bounces off one of Saturn's rings and strikes the left engine of the space pod, destroying it.)

Kuromie: There goes one of the engines...

Lester: (angrily) You idiot!

(He advances on Takuto like he's about to strangle him.)

Takuto: Wait! We still have the missiles!

(He presses another button and one of the missiles fly. It hits the planet Pluto, totally destroying it.)

Lester: (In shock horror and then very violently) YOU IDIOT!

(He starts strangling Takuto while Kuromie tries to restore the order.)

Kuromie: Don't worry! Pluto was never occupied to begin with! (sweatdrops) And it isn't even a planet in the solar system anymore!(2)

Takuto: (Frees himself from Lester's grip) (Hysterically) Poor Pluto, think of all the space maps that will be wrong! And think of all those planet kits! When a kid opens up a kit, he'll say, "What's this purple planet, mommy?" and the mom will say, "Oh don't worry about that piece dear, it's just a giant floating rock in space! It's not important anymore! Let's just throw it out!" Think of all those Plutos, being thrown into the trash because these scientists say it isn't a planet anymore!

(COMPLETE SILENCE)

Lester: …What the hell are you talking about?

Space Whale Jr.: Mew! (Trying to bring attention back)

Kuromie: What? That blast created a black hole? And it's sucking Eonia's fleet in?

(What Kuromie says is true—Eonia's fleet really is being sucked into the black hole.)

Eonia: (from his ship) Curse you, Takuto! Mark my words, we will meet again! You haven't seen the last of me!

(The black hole sucks up all of Eonia's ships with a satisfying burp)

Lester: Well, talk about ironic...

Kuromie: We still have to get away! The hole's starting to suck us in too! Takuto—hyperspace!

Takuto: I'm on it!

(The pod then uses its last remaining energy to complete the journey home.)

(Later...)

(The pod is shown crashing down to earth near the G.A.G. base. Next we see Takuto and Co. entering the G.A.G. base. They look worse for wear. Luft is sitting in one of the chairs patiently awaiting them.)

Kuromie: That takes some getting used too...

Lester: Takuto, tell me again why I'm still your friend after all these years...

Takuto: (sweatdrops)

Luft: (walks over to them) What took you so long?

Lester: Long story. Even longer explanation.

Luft: And the package?

(Lester shoves the package into Luft's hand.)

Kuromie: Excuse me for asking, but—what's in the package, General Luft?

Luft: I'm glad you asked. Behold! (He opens the package and holds up something.)

All: A COFFEE FILTER?(!)

Lester: (trying to control his anger) We went though all that—for a stinkin' COFFEE FILTER?(!)

Luft: Yep! Ain't it a beaut?

Takuto and Kuromie: (sweatdrop)

Luft: (throwing the coffee filter aside carelessly) Anyway, that was just a test!

Takuto: A test? (In a sad tone) Don't you trust us?

Luft: Of course not! Do you think I would actually give you something important for your very FIRST mission?

Takuto: (now dejected) Oh...

Luft: I also heard about your little "accident." Rest assured, the spacepod and planet (oops, I meant not-a-planet) Pluto can be repaired.

Kuromie: (surprised) It can?

Luft: Yes—BUT it's going on your bill.

Takuto: (weakly) How much?

Luft: Oh, I'd say about one million.

All: (sweatdrops)

Luft: No wait, make that one BILLION.

All: (bigger sweatdrops)

Luft: So from now on, you won't be getting your paychecks until you pay it off! I must be going now. Farewell!

(He leaves. There is silence.)

Kuromie: (nervously) Remember guys, just smile and wave... Just smile and wave...

(The gang smile and wave at the camera painfully. Then the camera zooms out from the base, and we can hear Lester shouting, "I'm gonna kill you, Takuto! I'm gonna KILL YOU!" We can then hear Takuto screaming like a girl and furniture crashing. We can also hear Kuromie say, "Stop it, you guys! Stop it!" Then last of all, we hear Space Whale Jr's voice.)

Space Whale Jr.: Mew...

EL FIN!

(Finally! Of course, it's not the end of the whole series, just this two part mini-story. From now on, I won't be writing in script mode anymore. Though script-mode would probably have been easier for the type of slap-stick comedy I write… Read: TOO. MUCH. DIALOGUE.)

**Notes:**

1. Kuromie's "I love you" quote… Of course, he meant it in a FRIEND way and not in a… ahem, romantic way; you silly silly perverts! (…I'm going to get mauled for that sentence, aren't I.)

2. I swear, when I first submitted this chapter, Pluto was still considered a planet in our solar system. It was just pure coincidence that I happened to choose Pluto to get destroyed. When I re-read this later, (after the whole, Pluto isn't a planet in our solar system news), I thought it was just so ironic, I couldn't resist putting in that whole Pluto speech. I can imagine Takuto saying that with the straightest face too…

**Character Bio:**

Kuromie Quark:

Gender: Male

Age: 15

Height: 4'7"

Job: To take care of the animals and plants on the Elle Ciel.

Special Abilities: He can communicate with the leader of the space whales, a large round whale that knows the emotions of all people. So, basically, Kuromie knows the feelings of everyone around him almost 24/7. Pretty scary when you think about it...

Looks: He has light brown hair, and aqua blue eyes. He wears what looks like a boy scout's uniform (main colors being green, white, and gold), complete with a green poofy hat (or beret, if you want to call it that.)

Personality: Kuromie acts very mature for his age. He's also kind, especially towards animals, and is very knowledgeable too. His best friend is a space whale calf named Space Whale Jr.

My Opinion: I don't think I stuck to his normal personality very well at all... I made him act more like his age (15) when in the manga he really does act like an adult. In the manga, he has a very complex personality that is hard for me to maintain in this fanfic. I also feel really bad for him, since he's even more minor than Lester is... He's my third favorite character out of the guys in GA.

I kinda put off his special ability for the time being, but it will reappear in the later chapters. Hopefully...

**Updated Final Notes:**

…I love how Eonia just KNOWS the G.A.G. are picking up an important package. He must be psychic!

Also, in this fanfic, Kuromie is pretty much the character where I dump plot-point related abilities onto since he's a really minor character in the manga. In this chapter, he's suddenly picked up mechanic skills—out of nowhere!

All the duex-ex-machina in this chapter just make me do a facepalm now. But I guess it's fine for a comedy story…


	5. Ep 5, Battle of the Fittest!

**Legal Stuff:** Galaxy Angel does not belong to me. It never has and never will be. The manga, anime, and game all belong to Broccoli. The beautiful artwork of the manga and game is created and belongs to Kanan.

Also, this is probably the oddest chapter yet. I think I must have been high on sugar when I wrote this...

**Battle of the Fittest!**

"I'm so... hungry!" moaned Takuto in a whiney voice, sprawled over a table in the main room of the G.A.G. base.

It had been almost five months since they had destroyed planet Pluto, and the result of that was no paycheck for those five months. Since then, Lester had lost his interest in killing Takuto, so the two were almost on good terms again. Almost.

"Stop whining." mumbled Lester in a highly dangerous tone, sitting in one of the sofas. "I'm hungry too, and I'm not complaining."

Takuto gave Lester a puzzled look. "Didn't you just complain right there?"

Lester's eyepatch glinted, and Lester's one eye gazed at Takuto menacingly. Takuto quickly shut up, knowing that bloodthirsty look all too well.

"This isn't good..." came a voice from the small kitchen at the side. It belonged to Kuromie. He was holding Space Whale Jr, a space whale calf, in his arms and was looking in the refrigerator with a look of worry.

"We ran out of food three days ago..." he continued, rather weakly, "and I don't know how we're going to survive without any..."

Space Whale Jr just nodded, too weak to mew.

"We're gonna die here, aren't we?(!)" cried Takuto suddenly, making the other two members jump in surprise.

"I—WILL NOT DIE HERE!" yelled Lester, standing up. "Of all the things to die from, I will not die of hunger!"

"I too, will not die here!" joined in Kuromie, raising a fist in the air.

"Mew!" went Space Whale Jr.

"Yeah, that's great but...we have no food." stated Takuto, matter-of-factly.

Everyone's stomach growled, and it seemed to be magnified even louder by the silence the pervaded the room afterwards. Both Lester and Kuromie sat back down sighing.

"Can't you get General Luft to send us some food?" asked Kuromie after a moment's pause. "After all, he can't possibly be so cruel as to let his own team die of starvation, can he?"

"Hey, that's a great idea!" said Takuto, quickly rising and going over to one of the computers. He punched in a couple numbers on the number pad, and the computer flashed a few times before finally revealing the aged face of General Luft himself.

"Hello gang!" came Luft's voice as the other two members huddled around the screen. "How are you?"

"Fine!" started Takuto, but then Lester shoved him quickly out of the way and said, "No! We're not 'fine', we're starving!"

"Oh? Why is that?"

"It's because we haven't gotten our paychecks for five months straight," continued Lester, "and therefore, we don't have any money to buy our food with!"

"Well, it's not my problem. After all, I'm not the one who destroyed Pluto."

Lester's mouth dropped open and Kuromie continued where Lester left off.

"Please, General Luft; all we are asking is that you supply us food for another two-no-one month at the latest! After that, we'll get our own food."

"H-How?" asked Takuto, just recovering from Lester's blow.

"We work for it, that's how." replied Lester coldly. "It's not like we have a choice, anyway..."

"So what do you say, General?" asked Kuromie to Luft.

"Nope! Sorry!"

"WHAT?(!)" went all three members as Luft started to laugh.

"B-B-But-" sputtered Takuto.

"We'll..." put in Kuromie.

"DIE!" finished Lester angrily.

"MEW!" cried Space Whale Jr pitifully.

"I'm sorry," came Luft's voice from the computer screen, "But I can not help you. You see, all of the company's money has nearly been spent just so that I wouldn't have to put you three, ("mew!" went Space Whale Jr angrily)—I mean four, in jail! So you'll just have to hold out until you get some money. Good luck!"

The computer screen flashed another time, and then went black. There was silence, and then...

"NOOO!" cried Lester, and Takuto and Kuromie leaped up in surprise. "How dare he let us starve here! That bas-"

"Lester!" gasped Kuromie. "Don't you call General Luft that!"

"Umm, yeah, you really need to calm down..." came Takuto's voice weakly from under the desk, where he was hiding.

"Well, I'm sorry..." said Lester in a highly sarcastic tone, "but going three days without food hasn't exactly put me into a good mood!"

"That's still no reason to blame General Luft!" cried Kuromie in a strangely high-pitched voice, stamping his foot on the floor. He then turned to the shaking Commander. "Isn't that right, Takuto?"

"Umm..." went Takuto, looking with fear, first at his best friend, and then to the young whale caretaker.

The computer flashed again.

"Hey, look! It's an incoming call!" cried Takuto, reaching for the computer as if it were his only lifeline. He pressed a button on the keyboard, and this time, Prince Shiva's face appeared.

"Greetings!" came Shiva's voice from the screen, "How are you?"

"Umm, well..." started Takuto, who then finished the second part of the sentence with lightning speed. "We-ran-out-of-food-and-now-we're-hungry-and-starving-and-Professor-Luft-won't-help-us-and-Lester-looks-bloodthirsty-and-Kuromie-looks-like-he's-about-to-cry-("I am not!" shouted Kuromie angrily)–and-we-really-need-your-help-so-could-you-please-send-us-food?"

Prince Shiva blinked several times, looking perplexed, and then said calmly, "I'm sorry, I didn't get a word you said, but I'm coming over to meet you guys soon. It's been a while since we've had a good chess game Takuto!"

"Can you please bring lots of food with you, your highness?" asked Takuto pleadingly, a second time.

But Shiva didn't seem to hear... "Oh, we'll have a wonderful time!" Shiva continued, "I'll see you guys later! Bye!"

"WAIT!" yelled Lester.

"Don't-" cried Kuromie.

"Go..." finished Takuto.

The computer screen flashed once again and then went black. Takuto almost felt like fainting as Lester let out another great roar and Kuromie plopped dejectedly on the floor next to the desk.

"I'm too young to die..." wailed Takuto, as Kuromie sulked in a corner, and Lester walked from one side of the base to the other.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures!" shouted Lester, slamming his fist on the table in the middle of the room. "We have no choice—we must eat the space whale!" He then pointed a finger at Space Whale Jr who was in Kuromie's arms, who gave a loud squeak in surprise.

"NOOO!" cried Kuromie hugging Space Whale Jr tighter than ever and backing away. "You, you cannibal!"

"It's either him or us, Kuromie!" yelled Lester, grabbing a pair of carving knives from the kitchen counter and advancing on Space Whale Jr hungrily.

"I would rather die than let my friend be eaten by you, you, bloodthirsty murderer!" cried Kuromie, tears appearing in the corners of his eyes.

"THIS MEANS WAR!" They shouted simultaneously. Takuto gave a loud wail from underneath the desk.

Lester and Kuromie quickly picked their territory. Lester hopped over the kitchen counter as Kuromie ducked behind a couch. Afterwards ensued the worst pillow/appliance fight Takuto had ever seen in his life. Lester threw forks and spoons like a madman while Kuromie skillfully ducked and dodged and retaliated with poofy cushions.

"You guys..." started Takuto weakly, "Maybe you should st-" but his sentence was cut short when he got hit full force in the face with a frying pan thrown by Lester and then with a throw pillow from behind by Kuromie. Fortunately, the second hit didn't hurt as much as the first.

After what seemed like hours, the two finally ran out of ammo (well, Lester still had the knives, but he wouldn't be so cruel as to risk Kuromie's life), and they both decided on a temporary time out to rest and re-load.

"This...isn't getting us anywhere..." puffed Lester.

"I won't let you eat Jr!" cried Kuromie, still holding on to Space Whale Jr. Surprisingly, for someone so small, he sure had a lot of energy in him. "Wait! I know! We should let Takuto decide!"

"No..." wailed Takuto as all eyes turned on him. "Why must you always bring me into this?" he sobbed, holding the throw pillow he was hit with to the side of his face which was starting to swell.

"Well?" asked Lester expectantly.

"Well..." moaned Takuto.

"I'm here!" shouted a voice from the door that sounded oddly familiar...

"PRINCE SHIVA!" cried the G.A.G. gang happily as the prince entered, bringing a large basket along.

"Oh, and here's the food I brought for you guys-" started Prince Shiva, but this sentence was cut short by shouts of "FOOD!" as the three members and Space Whale Jr practically ripped the basket out of Shiva's hands and began gobbling up the contents hungrily. Prince Shiva stared on for a moment more and then said,

"Well, I guess the chess game will have to wait until later..."

To Be Continued!

**Character Bio Time!**

Space Whale Jr.

Gender: Male...I think?

Age: a calf

Size: Is the size of a small cat

Job: Mascot (of Galaxy Angel, and the Galaxy Angel Guys)

Description: He's Kuromie's pet/best friend. Like other space whales, he doesn't need water to survive. He moves by floating or bouncing along the ground. I think he also helps Kuromie to communicate with the leader whale by forming a connection so that Kuromie doesn't need to be in contact with the leader whale himself. Also makes "mewing" noises. _"Mew"_.

My Opinion: Well, I can't really say much more of Space Whale Jr than what has already been stated. I will, say, however, that from now on, I'm calling him just plain Jr for short. Space Whale Jr gets annoying to type after a while. (Me and my laziness...)

**Updated Final Notes:**

I think this remains one of my favorite chapters out of the whole thing, despite Lester being horribly, horribly out of character.


	6. Ep 6, Do You Want Fries With That?

**Legal Stuff:** Galaxy Angel does not belong to me. It never has and never will be. The manga, anime, and game all belong to Broccoli. The beautiful artwork of the manga and game is created by and belongs to Kanan.

**Do You Want Fries with That?**

"You have got to be kidding..." said the silver-haired vice-commander Lester, who was looking at a run-down shack. "This can't be the right place."

Lester turned to look at Takuto, the black-haired commander and leader of the Galaxy Angel Guys. "Well..." started Takuto, scratching his head while looking down at a map. "The coordinates that Prince Shiva gave us lead to here..."

"But a fast food restaurant?" asked Lester quizzically.

"Hmm, Sam's Sleazy Shack..." Kuromie read from the faded sign that hung haphazardly over the restaurant. The fast food restaurant was in very poor condition, with an inch thick of dust covering the windows and what appeared to be slime running down the roofs. The restaurant was very small, and in the shape of a giant hamburger.

"It sure is sleazy, alright..." said Lester, looking somewhat disgusted.

Space Whale Jr, who was floating near Kuromie's shoulder, mewed.

"We should be thankful that Prince Shiva found us a place to work, though." said Takuto. "So... should we be going in now?"

"You go first." said Lester and Kuromie simultaneously.

Takuto gulped and, folding the map and tucking it away, opened the door slowly.

"Hello?" he said, cautiously. Hearing no reply, he stepped into the restaurant. "Um, hello?" Again no reply. "Hey, hello—ARG!" A giant rat had fallen on Takuto's head, and he fell down in surprise. With a great leap, the rat jumped off and scrambled into the depths of the restaurant.

Lester and Kuromie exchanged nervous glances, but stepped into the restaurant anyway.

Inside, the restaurant was fairly big, yet even dirtier than the outside. There were round tables spread all around in no order whatsoever, in ketchup red and mustard yellow. Chairs we flung all over the place, some laying on the ground and some on the tables. Food stains were splattered on the walls making a collage of ugly grays, dull reds, and slime-colored greens. There were dust and cobwebs everywhere, making it all look as if the restaurant were over 1,000 years old. The whole place reeked of a scent similar to what you would get if you mixed trash, garlic, and ketchup all into a blender and set it on liquefy.

"...Nice." said Lester sarcastically.

"Isn't there supposed to be a manager here?" asked Kuromie, going over to the dusty gray counter.

"This place gives me the creeps..." said Takuto, standing up and brushing himself off.

Suddenly, from the corner of the restaurant, a door opened revealing a shriveled old man who had bulging red eyes and long crooked fingers. He was quite a sight to behold.

"AHH!" screamed the G.A.G. as they jumped in surprise.

"Welcome to this restaurant." began the old man. "I'm the manager here. The name's Sam."

Takuto, overcoming his fear, said, "Oh, so you were the guy who started this restaurant?"

"Yep, over 80 years ago when I was 22..."

"Wait," started Lester, somewhat skeptical. "So that would mean you're over a hundred years old?"

"A hundred and two, to be exact." replied Sam in a monotone voice.

The three team members stared on, speechless.

Sam cleared his throat and then started to speak once more. "You three are here to get jobs, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right!" said Takuto, happily. "Alright gang, role call time!"

"Not that stupid role call..." said Lester, slapping a hand over his one eye.

Takuto struck a pose, and then said enthusiastically, "I'm Takuto Meyers, at your service!"

"And I'm Kuromie Quark, at your service!" joined in Kuromie happily, and then, holding up the space whale, "And this is Space Whale Jr!"

"Mew." went Space Whale Jr happily.

Lester stood still while saying in a flat tone, "I'm Lester Coolduras..."

He stole a look at the other two members who urged him on.

"...At your service..." he said with somewhat of a pained expression on his face.

"And we are... THE GALAXY ANGEL GUYS!" went everyone, as Sam looked on without any reaction whatsoever.

"Well, um, Galaxy Angel Guys, or whatever you call yourselves..." started Sam, "It's time for you to get working. But first, I need to assign you jobs. To be able to give you the job you truly deserve, you three will have to take a little test."

"Since when do you need a test to get a job at a fast food restaurant?" asked Lester, more to himself than to the others.

Long story short, the G.A.G. took the test and were now reading the results.

"A COOK?(!)" cried Lester, outraged. "You have GOT to be kidding!"

"The test says I would be a good cashier..." said Kuromie, looking at his results.

"Then that means I'm a ..." started Takuto, looking at his results expectantly. But then his face fell. "I'm a janitor?(!)" he cried.

"This test is messed up..." said Lester, crumpling up his paper.

"Well, you saw the results," said Sam, "Now get working." He then disappeared behind the door in the corner.

"Get working?" questioned Takuto. "How?"

Lester shoved an old broom into Takuto's hands, pointed to the bathrooms in the corner and then said, "Get working."

Takuto walked cautiously to the men's bathroom, and opened it. He then groaned at the scene he saw.

Meanwhile, Lester and Kuromie had set to work cleaning up their designated areas.

"I'm surprised there's still fresh food here..." said Lester from the kitchen.

"I wonder if anyone even eats here anymore." said Kuromie. "We can't exactly get paid if no one buys anything..."

And so started the longest day the G.A.G. had ever known.

"And I thought sitting around at the base was boring..." said Lester...bored. He was leaning on the frame of the square opening where you could pass food to the cashier.

"You think YOU have it bad?" asked Takuto, emerging from the men's bathroom covered in—who knows what. "I'd give ANYTHING to have your job..."

Kuromie was rearranging the tables and chairs. "Oh!" he cried as the giant rat from before rushed out from under an overturned chair.

"YOU!" cried Takuto, making Lester slip from his spot and fall with a "crash" to the floor. Takuto pointed accusingly at the sprinting rat. "I'LL GET YOU FOR LAST TIME!" Takuto then chased after the rat, swinging his broom crazily. His chase turned over more chairs and tables.

"Takuto!" cried Kuromie angrily, trying to set the tables straight again. "Behave yourself!"

Lester sighed and then walked to the middle of the room. He waited patiently, and then stuck his foot out just as Takuto was running past. Takuto tripped, then did a belly slide on the floor. His progress was stopped only by a pile of chairs and tables which he crashed into. Meanwhile, the rat quickly hurried into a hole in the wall.

"TAKUTO!" Lester roared, going over to the dazed commander and yanking him out of the pile roughly. "Takuto, I'm gonna..." but Lester didn't get a chance to finish as the team's watches started beeping.

"It's a message from General Luft!" said Kuromie, pressing a button on his watch. A hologram of Luft popped up.

"Greetings, G.A.G.!" said Luft, cheerfully.

"Greetings..." the gang mumbled.

"Gee, you guys seem down."

"Not really. We're all just fine and peachy." replied Lester sarcastically.

"Good, because I have a mission for you guys that will hopefully bring in some money!"

"What?" said Takuto, regaining his senses. "We have to do missions, even when we're working?"

"Yep!"

"That isn't fair!" yelled Lester. "How the heck are we supposed to do two things at once?"

"That's your problem not mine." replied Luft calmly. "Anyway, your mission is to catch a burglar." Luft's image then switched to an image of a middle aged man with a long beard and thick eyebrows. Luft's voice continued over the image of the man.

"He just stole three million's worth of diamonds from a famous jewelry store. He could be armed. The reward if anyone should catch him is double what he stole."

"Wow..." whistled Takuto. "That's six million."

"Yeah, only 94 million left to go before we pay of the debt." put in Lester. Takuto's face fell.

"Well, good luck to ya!" said Luft, his face reappearing to salute the G.A.G. before disappearing.

"The message ended..." said Kuromie, turning off his watch.

Suddenly, the front door creaked opened.

"A customer!" cried Kuromie. "Hurry, get back to your places!"

Kuromie went behind the counter as Lester went into the kitchen. Since Takuto didn't want to clean anymore bathrooms, he followed after Lester.

"Welcome to Sam's Sleazy Shack," said Kuromie in a way too cheerful voice. "May I take your or-" but then he stopped as he saw the "customer".

"Oh em gee..." whispered Takuto to Lester, as they peeped through the square window. "It's the burglar!"

"No, it can't be..." replied Lester, frowning. "This is much too easy..."

The newly arrived customer had a long beard and thick eyebrows. He was very dirty and covered in mud, which made it look as if he had traveled a long distance.

"A drink please, and maybe a burger or two." said the man in a gruff voice to Kuromie.

Kuromie stood still as stone, too frightened to move, looking at the gun at the man's waist. It wasn't until Space Whale Jr, who had been hiding under the desk that held the cash register, bit Kuromie lightly on the leg that Kuromie snapped out of his shock.

"Ow! Oh, um, would you like fries with that...?" said Kuromie, faltering at the end of his sentence.

"No, thanks." said the man as he walked over to the only table in the restaurant that wasn't overturned. He was carrying a large brown sack that he dragged along the floor. Suddenly, the sack caught on a loose floor board and ripped. The man stopped in his tracks and looked down in horror as a pure white diamond dropped out, and rolled to a stop at Kuromie's feet.

Hesitantly, Kuromie reached down and picked it up. He then said, his voice shaking, "Sir... you dropped your... diamond..."

"GET DOWN KUROMIE!" yelled Lester as he jumped through the opening in the wall separating the counter and the kitchen and grabbed Kuromie out of the way as the burglar unleashed a round of bullets from his gun. The bullets flew into the kitchen wall, forcing Takuto to take cover also. With an angry roar, Lester grabbed the laser gun from his belt and also started unleashing shots.

"What in the blazes is going on-" said Sam, emerging from the door in the corner, but seeing what was happening, he quickly retreated behind it again.

Running out of bullets, the burglar quickly decided to run and headed towards the door.

"He's getting away..." said Kuromie weakly, still in shock from the last incident.

But the burglar didn't get far.

"ARG!" yelled the burger, backing away from the door. He was looking at the same rat that had caused trouble for Takuto before. "I...hate...rats!" he cried, looking fearfully at the rat that was blocking the door.

"You have got to be kidding..." muttered Lester, still holding his gun at the ready.

As the burglar backed up to the counter, Takuto swiftly took him out with a frying pan he had found in the kitchen. The burglar crumpled to the floor after just one hit. The other two teammates swiftly tied him up.

"Ha!" cried Takuto, holding the pan triumphantly and pointing to the dazed burglar. "You just got SERVED!"

"...That has got to be the worst victory phrase I've ever heard." said Lester.

"Aw... but I created it myself..." said Takuto.

"Exactly."

As the police carted the burglar away, Takuto and co. gave their farewells to Sam.

"It was nice working with you," started Takuto, shaking hands with Sam. "But we really need to go now."

Sam sighed and then said, "I know, I know. You guys are young. Enjoy your lives while you can."

"What are you going to do now?" asked Kuromie, holding Space Whale Jr in his arms.

"Well," said Sam, scratching his head. "I think it's about time I retire."

And so, saying a final goodbye to Sam, the G.A.G. prepared to board a space shuttle home. As Takuto gazed one more time at the dusty old restaurant, he saw the same rat looking out the window.

"Well, maybe you aren't so bad after all." said Takuto smiling.

The rat seemed to wink at him.

**To be continued!**

**Character bio:**

Luft Weizen:

Gender: Male

Age: 50

Height: The producers don't say, but I know for a fact that he's taller than Lester even.

Job/Rank: He was the original Commander of the Elle Ciel, but handed the job over to Takuto. Is a general of the Imperial Force that protects the prince. Was also Takuto's professor at the Academy. (That's why Takuto still calls him "Professor" Luft instead of "General.")

Looks: He has long brown hair that goes down below his shoulders, and blue eyes. His uniform is similar to Takuto's, except with a longer red cape, and the main colors being red, blue, white, and gold.

Personality: Lively and energetic in spite of his old age. Also very wise and strategic, and has somewhat of a comical, laid-back side. Is also a bit egotistical. (You can get him to do almost anything just by praising him.)

My Opinion: Well, Luft may seem a bit mean to the G.A.G. in this fanfiction, but all in all, he means well.

(Stay tuned for next time! See ya!)

**Updated Final Notes:**

Not much to say about this chapter either. Sadly, all the fun/silly stuff I made the guys go through doesn't last long…


	7. Ep 7, My Life as an Evil Villian

**Legal Stuff:** Galaxy Angel does not belong to me. It never has and never will be. The manga, anime, and game all belong to Broccoli. The beautiful artwork of the manga and game is created by and belongs to Kanan.

Now you're probably wondering, "Why dedicate a whole fan fiction chapter to a villain like Eonia?" The answer: Because I feel like it, dangit. Plus I also feel kinda bad for leaving him out of the story since chapter four. Well, on with the show!

**My Life as an Evil Villain**

**(Eonia Special!)**

It was a nice and sunny day in space.

Well, technically, in space, it's always dark no matter what, but anyway—

A lone spaceship stood still in the midst of a barren field of space rocks. It belonged to the exiled prince, Eonia. He was looking impatiently out of a large (and thick) window that was in his private quarters. The space rocks floated lazily by and Eonia angrily drew a curtain over the window. It had been over five months since his last rendezvous with the Galaxy Angel Guys which had resulted in Eonia barely making it out alive of the black hole the G.A.G. had created (accidentally, of course). Unfortunately, he lost over half his troops due to that incident, and was now waiting for replacements to come.

"Big brother..." came a voice from the ornate doorway to Eonia's room. It belonged to a girl who looked about the age of ten. She was wearing a type of mechanized leotard, and had long blonde hair reaching almost to her ankles. She looked like a normal girl, except for the fact that where her left hand should be, there was a white, noodle-like tentacle that reached down to her feet. (1)

"Dear brother," continued Noa, waving the white—hand thing—playfully around near her feet. "What's wrong? You look so sad." She said this in a sweet, girly voice.

Although Noa always referred to Eonia as "big brother," it is not known whether they truly were related. They did look very much alike; however… Eonia had red eyes while Noa had purple ones.

Eonia turned from the window and looked towards Noa. Out of the whole ship, she was to only other person allowed in his room.

"I'm fine." said Eonia simply. He had taken off his outer cloak and was wearing only the black gown he usually wore underneath. He then walked to a large computer screen showing a map of the entire galaxy. A small purple dot labeled "Eonia" was in the middle of it all. The earth, where the G.A.G. base was located, was several thousand light-years away. Eonia sighed.

"It's going to take a while before I can meet up with the Takuto and his crew again..." started Eonia. "But I am already growing impatient. He has humiliated me one time—he won't be able to do it again!"

Eonia brought a fist down on the desk in front of the computer screen, and then slumped into a chair near it.

"Be patient, dear brother." Noa said. "Meanwhile, why not take a break? It's a nice day for a picnic." She flashed a (much too) sweet smile towards him.

Noa led the way, skipping happily while Eonia followed in the rear. In fact, Eonia truly had no idea where Noa was leading him. In his many years aboard his ship, there were some places that even he hadn't known about or visited. This was one of them.

It had been twenty minutes since they started the walk, and by the growing number of electrical lights that hung on the walls, Eonia judged that they were in the very midst of the ship. Or somewhere near the bottom. With spaceships, one never could tell.

Finally, Noa stopped at a glass door. It was tinted black so that you couldn't see inside of it. "We're here!" she said, waiting while Eonia caught up. When he did, Noa put her right hand on the identification pad located near the door. It scanned her hand, and then with an "access verified," the door opened. Eonia gasped at what he saw.

It was a beautiful park, complete with a large flower garden, shady trees, grass, and a small waterfall that flowed into a pond. Noa skipped inside the room with no reaction at all, showing that she must have been here many times before. She calmly went over to the pond and began watching the koi swimming in it.

Eonia stepped inside slowly, and the black glass doors closed behind him. It had been years since he had seen a place like this again. He looked up at the source of light. It came from a large electrical light bulb—artificial sunlight. He touched the grass underneath and felt the water in the pond. They were real. He became excited and reached towards an Iris. To his disappointment, his fingers slipped right through.

"It's a hologram..." said Eonia sadly.

"Yes, most of this place is, big brother." Noa said in response. "The waterfall, grass, and animals here are real, but the other plants here aren't. It's because the people who built this ship were unable to find any plant species at the time. See? I can pass right through this tree." She did. "I think it's rather fun though." She flashed yet another sweet smile.

"Well I don't." stated Eonia flatly. "After years in space, the only thing I wish is to see a real flower—and all I get are holograms!"

There was suddenly a sickening "SQUISH" as Eonia stepped in a pile of… well, I'd rather not say, but it was brown and smelly.

"That isn't a hologram!" Noa said, giggling.

It took awhile before the pair finally settled down and started eating. Noa had brought a basket out from somewhere, and was spreading a blanket out on the grass in the shade of a tree. Eonia sighed, and leaned on the tree—but then fell through it.

"All the trees are holograms!" Noa reminded in a fit of giggles.

"I—knew that..." replied Eonia somewhat annoyed, getting up from his position on the ground. Holograms were never good replacements for real things. Nice to look at, sure, but very dangerous.

Eonia was halfway through a bottle of water when a cry of "Lord Eonia!" made him choke. The voice belonged to vice Commander Sherry. She ran into the room waving a piece of paper. "Some fleet wants to make an alliance with you, sir." she said, bowing before him. "Will you accept?"

"Sure, whatever." Eonia said, waving Sherry away. "Go do some other business now." Sherry saluted and left.

A few minutes later...

"I have the daily supply count sir!" yelled one of Eonia's crewmen, who appeared out of nowhere just as Eonia was biting into a sandwich. Eonia jumped in surprise. He said somewhat angrily to the crewman, "I'll hear it later." The crewman saluted and left.

A few minutes later...

"The new troops will be here in thirty days!"

"Unidentified object approaching!"

"We need more ships!"

"I think we're lost..."

"The crewmates are bored, sir."

"Someone complained that the food was awful."

"We ran out of toilet paper!"

All these announcements came at Eonia from various crewmembers at the same time. Eonia had had enough.

"GET OUT!" he roared standing up to his full height. "GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT! I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF A PICNIC, AND IF ANYONE DARES TO INTERRUPT ME AGAIN, I WILL SEND THEM INTO SPACE WITHOUT A SPACESUIT!"

The crewmembers scattered like a pack of rodents, leaving Eonia panting heavily. After a few deep breaths, he finally calmed down. He was extremely tired and sleepy from the food. Noa was no where to be found. He leaned against the tree—and fell right through it again.

"Damn hologram..." he muttered, lying in the grass, and then fell into a deep sleep.

"Make way for Lord Eonia!" came Sherry's voice. "The ruler of the universe!"

Eonia blinked several times. He was sitting on a golden throne, and people were bowing to him, while chanting, "You are my master, Lord Eonia!" Of the people in the crowd, the Galaxy Angel Guys and Prince Shiva were in the midst, bowing also. Eonia then let out a great laugh. He had done it! He had finally completed his goal.

"I can't believe it..." Eonia said, having to grasp the throne not to lose balance. "I'm actually ruler of the universe! I have completed my lifelong dream of WORLD DOMINATION!"

Suddenly, a deep female voice boomed all around him, saying, "How dare you go and dominate the world without letting me know! What have I told you about controlling other people? It's not nice!"

Eonia fell back onto his throne. The voice was so familiar... it couldn't be... He gasped. "Mom?(!)"

"AHH!" Eonia cried, as he awoke out of his nightmare. "That...that was horrible..." he said, clutching at his chest. A frog sitting on a lily pad in the pond nearby croaked. "What are you looking at?" said Eonia in annoyance. The frog gave another croak then jumped into the water. Eonia went over to the pond, and then gave another scream when he saw his reflection.

It seems Noa hadn't gone that far after all, as she had braided his hair and put make-up all over Eonia's face when he was sleeping. "What the hell? Noa!" Eonia cried, but she was once again, no where to be found. Eonia quickly washed the make-up off with water from the pond and then proceeded to the door. Big mistake. When Eonia exited the room, he was quickly bombarded by more crewmen. "Arg!" cried Eonia, clutching his head and making a run towards his private quarters. On his way, he ran by Sherry, who he said to: "You're in control now—take care of everything for me!" Sherry saluted Eonia as he continued being chased by the crewmembers down the hall. She smiled happily, and then said, "You won't be disappointed sir!"

As the procession finally disappeared into the distance, Sherry quickly took out a walkie-talkie and said into it, "Alright Hell Hounds, I leave it up to you."

Eonia made it safely to his room and shut the door. He then slumped into the chair and gave a sigh of relief. Finally, he could go back to scheming against the G.A.G. in peace, and watch the space rocks lazily float by his window. But then a sinister voice behind him sent chills down his spine. It belonged to Noa.

"Oh big brother..."

**To be continued!**

**Notes:**

1. Noodle-like... I'm really bad at describing it, but that's what Noa's left hand looks like. And I have I bad feeling that it's going to be hard describing it in the rest of this fan fiction... (Goes and sulks in a corner)

**Character Profile:**

Eonia Transbaal:

Gender: Male

Age: 26

Height: 6'3"

Rank/Job: He has his own fleet of spaceships that he uses to fight against the Imperial Force. He controls them all from his personal ship, called "The Black Moon."

Looks: He looks like an older, male version of Ranpha (seriously!). More specifically, he has long blonde hair, tied in a high ponytail, red eyes, and wears a black robe with a large purple cape on the outside.

Personality: He's the villain of Galaxy Angel and wants to kidnap Prince Shiva for reasons unknown. He may seem cold and cruel, but he is actually pretty caring towards those he loves.

My opinion: EONIA DA PIMP! (dodges flames thrown by Eonia fangirls—well, if there ARE any Eonia fangirls...) Heh, heh... Sorry, I just had to get that out... I actually don't hate Eonia at all. In fact, he's one of my favorite villains; so I felt really bad for giving him the stereotyped "I'm-gonna-take-over-the-world-yet-I-don't-have-any-brains-in-me!" attitude in the earlier chapters... I promise, I won't make him OOC ever again! (Or at least try not to...)

Also, the next chapter will be the beginning of a five part mini-series starring the Hell Hounds!

**(MAJOR SPOILER FOR MANGA 5): **

**SPOILER**

**SPOILER**

**SPOILER**

**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

Yes, the Hell Hounds, those guys who only show up for like fifteen pages in manga 3 and then die two books later. Personally, I rather liked them.

**END SPOILER**

Stay tuned!

**Updated Final Notes:**

Even though I said I would try not to make Eonia OOC… I still think I did, in hindsight (and after re-reading through GA Beta).

No matter what, I still (in my mind) think that Eonia is just a misunderstood woobie—who wants to take over the universe.


	8. Ep 8, Who Needs Romeo?

**Legal stuff:** You know the drill by now... I don't own the Galaxy Angel anime, manga, game, etc...

**Note:** In case anyone asks, I should make it clear now. The girls of the Angel-tai will not be appearing in this fan fiction. That includes Milfie, Ranpha, Forte, Mint, Vanilla, and Chitose. I'm really sorry about this, but I think that the minor characters of the game and manga need a chance to be in the spotlight. In this fan fiction, you can expect more appearances from Sherry, Shatoyan, Shiva, and Luft; and also appearances from Almo, Coco, Creta, Kela, and especially the Hell Hounds. (Trust me; I'll work them in somehow...)

ON WITH THE SHOW!

(Oh yeah, and Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare. But most of you should know that already. If you don't… READ MORE LITERATURE.)

**Who Needs Romeo—When you've Got Camus!**

"How exciting!"

Was what Luft expected the Galaxy Angel Guys to say when he revealed their latest mission. Instead, all he got was a stunned silence.

"I said-" repeated General Luft, in case the G.A.G. hadn't heard him properly. "—That you are all going to be in a theater production! A play called 'Romeo and Juliet' in fact!"

"But we're not actors..." replied Kuromie, finally breaking the silence. Space Whale Jr. mewed in his arms.

"You've got to be kidding..." said Lester.

"Didn't you say that last time?" questioned Takuto, but immediately shut up from Lester's glare.

"AHEM." said Luft, trying to get the guys to give him their attention once more. "Don't worry about it. You don't even need to know how to act with the minor roles you have!"

"Minor? More like miniscule." Lester scoffed.

And indeed it was, for this time, the G.A.G. were assigned to be part of the scenery. To be exact, Takuto's role was a bush, Lester was to play a tree, and Kuromie—a rock.

"I don't really see the point of this..." continued Lester. He had been forced to wear a stiff, long costume that looked realistically like a tree. Where his arms should be, there were instead two tree branches sticking out. He also had to wear a large helmet made of leaves, which looked like a really big green afro.

"Eh heh heh..." laughed Takuto nervously, waving his branches around. Takuto's costume was much simpler. As a bush, all he had to do was don a bunch of branches. He held two of them in his hands.

"How am I supposed to move in this thing?" asked Lester, trying to walk, but since the costume was narrow and stiff, all he could manage was a slow, clumsy shuffle.

"At least you can move at all..." said Kuromie bitterly. He had to wear a plastic mold that was painted to look like a rock. It was fairly large with only one opening at the top for a person's head. The only way one could get in and out of the costume was by opening the lock on the side. There were hinges on the other side, so that you could swing it open like a chest.

From the depths of the rock costume, there came a faint "mew." Takuto and Lester stared at Kuromie.

"Is Space Whale Jr. in there too?" asked Takuto.

"...Yes." replied Kuromie.

"Places everyone!" came a shout. It was the director. He was young, in his early twenties, with blonde hair and tan eyes. "The curtain rises in twenty!" He said. The director then approached the Galaxy Angel Guys, who were already standing in their places on the stage. A red velvet curtain hung in front of them.

"I'm nervous..." said the director. "This is my first ever play that I'm directing, and my father is a famous theater critic."

"Oh, really?" asked Kuromie.

"Yes. For years, ever since I was a little boy, he's always been criticizing me for something. But now, I shall prove him wrong!" The director got on his knees and raised his hands to the G.A.G. "Please! This whole act depends on you guys! Don't ruin my chance!" He then got up and walked backstage, while yelling, "Alright guys, the curtain goes up in ten!"

The Galaxy Angel Guys sweatdropped.

"T-That's a lot of pressure he's putting on us..." said Kuromie, already beginning to sweat in his stuffy costume.

"Well, we're only part of the scenery, so it can't be that hard." said Takuto.

"Yeah, except for the part that we have to stand exactly still for four hours," said Lester. "Without bathroom breaks."

Takuto groaned.

"Umm, so who's playing Romeo and Juliet?" asked Kuromie, trying to put the team into a better mood.

"I think she's playing Juliet." said Takuto, nodding towards a young girl, still a teenager, with dark brown hair, and pink eyes. She was wearing a red medieval dress with gold ruffles. She looked perfect for the part.

"And Romeo?" continued Kuromie.

"Oh goddesses no..." muttered Lester under his breath.

"What?" was what Takuto would have said, but then he saw the reason for his friend's remark. It was Camus O. Laphroaig. He was going to play the role of Romeo. Even on this night, Camus was still wearing his regular outfit, a blue and silver robe with a flowing blue cape, his long blue hair falling around his shoulders, a rose in his hand. He was talking to the director in a heavy French accent. He had not yet noticed the G.A.G.

"Isn't he... Isn't he the guy who attacked the Elle Ciel a few years back?" asked Kuromie in a whisper.

"He's the leader of the Hell Hounds, the fleet that attacked us." corrected Lester.

"But, what's he doing here?" joined in Takuto. "I mean, of all the places he chooses to show up in, he winds up in this play..."

"...At the exact same moment as us..." said Kuromie with worry.

"Funny, isn't it?" finished Lester.

But it was too late to back out now. The play was only mere minutes away from beginning. Camus walked by the gang, who tried to keep silent, but unfortunately, he recognized them. Camus smiled evilly, his blue eyes glinting in the spotlights hanging from the ceiling. He twisted the rose in his hand, causing rose petals to fall to the ground.

"How unexpected..." he said in his heavy accent, putting an extra emphasis on the word, 'unexpected.' "It's such a convenience meeting you three here." He gave a short laugh. "How funny. This morning, I was issued an order by Lady Sherry to eliminate you, and tonight, here you are. Lady Sherry's mission was easier than I thought." He laughed again, holding the rose to his nose.

"I thought you died." Lester spat.

Camus's pretty face contorted. He huffed, and then said simply, "It will be a pleasure to kill you—after the performance. Enjoy your puny existence for the last short hours you have." He then swept by, laughing maniacally.

"I don't... like that guy..." said Takuto slowly.

"Me neither..." said Lester. "And since when was the Romeo even prettier than the Juliet?"

"Umm, will we die...?" asked Kuromie weakly, his face gone pale.

From inside Lester's costume, there was a clicking sound. It was his laser gun.

The play had begun!

All was going well, except for the fact that the G.A.G. would face their death in about four hours if they didn't think of something quick. That, and the fact that the audience could barely understand a word Camus said due to his heavy accent.

Although it wasn't openly apparent, the audience could still feel that there was a heavy tension in the air. The director prayed quietly from backstage, and although the G.A.G. tried not to interfere with the play, their annoyance grew as Camus taunted them.

"Romeo, oh Romeo," said the girl playing Juliet, who was standing on the balcony-like ledge on the stage. "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?"

"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?" said Camus softly, walking towards the balcony, not before giving a hard kick to Takuto's shins in the process, in which Takuto had to stifle an "ow!"

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose; by any other name would smell as sweet..." continued the girl.

"I take thee at thy word-" He then stepped on Lester's foot, which was the only other part sticking from his costume other than his head.

Lester grimaced but said nothing.

"-Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized-" Camus threw his arm casually behind him, whacking Kuromie in the face with his hand—and the rose IN his hand.

Kuromie shook the rose petals from his face angrily.

"—and henceforth I never will be Romeo." Camus finally finished, smiling somewhat wickedly.

The girl on the balcony acted surprised as though she had just heard Camus. "What man art thou that thus bescreen'd in night so stumblest on my counsel?" she asked.

Camus then continued his torture. "By a name-" (stomp) "-I know not how to tell thee who I am-" (kick) "-My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself-" (crunch) "-Because it is an enemy to thee-" (slap) "-Had I it written, I would tear the wo-AHHH!" screamed Camus as he fell to the ground with a thundering 'crash' that echoed through the whole theater. Lester had lost his temper and had tripped Camus with his foot as he was walking past.

The audience stared, speechless; and then, there was laughter. It was low at first, only a few polite giggles, but then came guffaws and howls, and before anyone knew it, the whole audience was roaring with laughter. However, there was only one person in the audience who didn't laugh—the director's father.

The actors were also stunned, and the director began sobbing loudly. Kuromie shot a glare at Lester, who (tried to) shrug.

"There goes our paycheck..." said Takuto weakly.

"Alright, show's over..." said Camus, recovering from the embarrassing ordeal. He got up from the ground and straightened up. From the folds of his cloak, he pulled out a rapier.

Everyone in the theater was confused by this, since they weren't quite sure if this was in the play or not, but the actors played along.

"Oh no!" said the girl playing Juliet, quickly improvising. "The forest has come to life and has threatened to engulf Romeo!"

"He's the evil one!" said Takuto, pointing a branch angrily at Camus while Lester and Kuromie struggled to get out of their uncomfortable costumes. Takuto didn't need to take his off, since it didn't hinder him all that much.

Camus laughed, then held his rapier at the ready. "It is you who will die." He said, and lunged at Takuto.

Takuto gasped, but Lester, who still had his costume on, shielded Takuto. Either the wood of the costume was very thick, or Camus's thrust was very weak, but the rapier only got halfway into the wood before it stuck.

"Curse you!" cried Camus—or, at least, that was what he would have said if Lester hadn't given him a good whack with the tree branch from his costume, knocking Camus down and causing him to lose his weapon in the process.

"Branch ATTACK!" yelled Takuto, whacking Camus mercilessly with his costume branches. Camus held his face where the Takuto's branches had scratched him.

"NO! My face!" Camus screeched. "My beautiful, beautiful face! You will DIE!" He grabbed up his rapier from the floor and scowled.

"Oh crud..." said Takuto backing away as Camus advanced on him. Apparently, branches were very handy weapons, but not a shield you would want to have when facing a mad lunatic with a rapier. And a very SHARP rapier at that.

"Finally!" said Lester, able to pull off his costume at last.

"Help! I can't open this lock!" cried Kuromie, fumbling with the lock that trapped him in his costume. Takuto and Lester exchanged quick, worried glances.

"Should I shoot it off?" asked Lester, but Takuto and Kuromie quickly retaliated with a loud, "NO!"

"RAAA!" went Camus, as he lunged for Takuto again. This time, his progress was stopped by a rock—or rather, a boy dressed as a rock. Lester had thrown Kuromie, costume and all, at Camus. There was a crash as Camus fell down again, this time with Kuromie on top of him. The hinges of the costume broke, and Kuromie jumped out as fast as he could, still holding onto Space Whale Jr.

"Warn me the next time you do that, will you?" Kuromie said, somewhat sarcastically.

"Who are you guys?" asked the girl playing Juliet, who by now had gotten off the balcony.

"We are-" said Takuto.

"—The Galaxy Angel Guys!" went Takuto, Kuromie, and Lester together, although Lester said this line with less enthusiasm than his other two teammates.

"Zee game is not over!" cried Camus, his accent now worse than ever as he emerged from the smashed pile left over from the costume. He quickly went to the girl, grabbed her, and held the rapier under her neck. "Either drop your weapons or the girl DIES!"

"But we don't even know her-!" started Takuto, but Lester whacked him hard in the side of the head with his laser gun.

"Let her go!" cried Kuromie, while Space Whale Jr. growled.

Camus backed a few steps, still holding the girl hostage as he stepped a few paces back. The girl tried to act calm and make it seem as if this was part of the play so that the audience wouldn't panic, but it was clear from the look in her eyes that she was scared.

"Or what?" said Camus, who was pretty confident by now. "Or you'll attack me with that rabid whale of yours?"

Camus had spoken to soon. Space Whale Jr. jumped from Kuromie's arms and bit Camus in the arm, causing him to drop the rapier yet again. While Camus struggled to get Space Whale Jr. off his arm, the girl took the chance to run to the other side of the stage. When Camus finally succeeded in throwing off Jr, Lester shot at the chandelier above Camus's head, causing it to drop and trap him underneath.

"Curse you a thousand times over!" cried Camus, though he said this in French, so no one really understood what he was saying.

"You just got SERVED!" said Takuto, pointing a finger at the trapped Camus.

Lester sighed. "Are you going to say that all the time now? And take that stupid costume off; it's embarrassing."

"Aw, but I was getting used to it..."

"Gee, who knew that the director's father would love our play so much; huh Takuto?" asked Kuromie, holding a rather large bag of cash. Space Whale Jr. mewed happily in his lap. They were riding in a space pod Luft had provided for them. Lester was driving.

"He said that we really spiced things up," replied Takuto, who was standing at the front. "He said he had never seen such an exciting play before."

"At least he paid us well for it." said Lester, who was steering.

Meanwhile...

Camus was on another ship, handcuffed and locked in a cell, getting flown to jail. However, the progress of the ship was stopped suddenly and there were loud booming noises. Camus looked up at the doorway and then smiled weakly at who he saw.

"Ah... Lady Sherry..." he said, weakly.

"You've disappointed me, Camus." said Sherry, briskly. "I thought you would be able to get the mission done but I guess I was wrong." She shook her head in annoyance.

"Please forgive me, Lady Sherry. I let my guard down. I didn't think the Galaxy Angel Guys would be this strong..."

"I'm sending Guinness. He's being sent to find the G.A.G. at this very moment."

"What?(!)" cried Camus angrily. "You're sending in that meathead?(!)"

"Well, I'm sure he'll do a better job than you."

Camus had no choice but to agree.

**(To Be Continued!)**

**Character Profiles:**

Sherry Bristol:

Gender: Female

Age: Mid-twenties

Height: Definitely shorter than Eonia. I think she may be shorter than Lester, and probably taller than Takuto. In between there.

Job: Eonia's right hand man—er, woman. Also controls the Hell Hounds.

Looks: She has whitish-red hair and brown eyes. She has a scar running down her right cheek. She wears a black, white, and red uniform with a long black cape.

Personality: She is very loyal to Eonia, and is in love with him, in fact. She would do anything to please him. Unfortunately, this love had made her cold and cruel to carry out Eonia's evil deeds.

My Opinion: I think Sherry is okay. She had a bad ending in manga 5 that made me feel a bit sorry for her. I think I was able to capture her personality perfectly, though I can't really tell, since she wasn't in the manga all that long...

Camus O. Laphroaig:

Gender: Male

Age: Mid-twenties

Height: Umm, about Sherry's height? (sweatdrops)

Rank: The leader of Sherry's personal mercenary troop, the Hell Hounds.

Looks: He has aqua blue hair (that goes past his shoulders), with the same color eyes. He wears a cloak/robe like costume, the main colors being blue and black. He is usually seen holding a rose. (Also, he has a small waist, holy damn.)

Personality: He has a very narcissic attitude and has an obsession with killing people. Yeah... Plus, he's French, I think... (Or at least, acts like it.)

My opinion: I had a hard time doing Camus's character. I had so little information on him, and how he acted, that I had to improvise. I don't know if he really has a French accent or not, but I'm definitely going to make fun of it a lot throughout this fan fiction... Also, I gave him a rapier, since he needed SOMETHING that he could attack with. I mean, he can't just throw roses like Tuxedo Mask, (although that would be cool...)

See you—NEXT TIME!


	9. Ep 9, The Ups and Downs of High School

**Legal stuff: **I don't own GA. End of story.

**Notes:** Kuromie finally "regains" use of his powers here! It's not like I forgot about it or neglected it or anything! Nope! (coughs nervously)

**The Ups and Downs of High School!**

The Galaxy Angel Guys were about to face their hardest mission yet—working at a high school. And not just any high school, they would be working at the WORST one in the world...

And it was called—D.E.A.T.H.S!

DUN DUN DUN!

"District East Avenue Tops High School..." said Kuromie, reading the rusted school sign and biting his lower lip in worry. Space Whale Jr. was in his arms.

"The initials spell out the word 'deaths...'" said Lester.

"Well, if you take out the 'high school' part, all it spells out is 'deat'!" said Takuto cheerfully.

Lester rolled his eyes as Kuromie sweatdropped.

"So what are our jobs?" asked Lester, trying to get back on track.

"We'll find out when we go the front office." said Kuromie pointing to the entrance of the school.

The school was huge, dark, and impending. It towered over the three team members like a great castle. The whole school was painted black with dark tinted windows, and the school was guarded by a black iron-wrought gate. There were also iron fences going around the perimeter of the school. There was cement everywhere, as far as the eye could see, and statues of gargoyles and wingless angels scattered on the school grounds. The school was lighted only by candles and torches, and the smell of smoke pervaded the air. The sky was grey and cloudless, and the skeletons of dead trees framed the fringes of the school. Takuto reached up to a tree branch. It broke and crumbled into dust at his very touch.

"Ugh," said Takuto. "It really does seem like someone died here..."

Space Whale Jr. was shaking in Kuromie's arms. Kuromie closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

"I...sense something..." he said, with his eyes still closed.

"What is it?" asked Lester, surveying the place with caution. "I don't like the looks of this place. It's way too quiet for a high school..."

"Well, it could be the fact that it's only six in the morning and this school doesn't start until eight..." said Takuto, looking down at his watch.

"No, this feeling is something different..." muttered Lester, seeming uneasy.

"Depression, fear, apprehension." said Kuromie suddenly, his eyes now open. "Those are the emotions that I feel coming strongly from this school."

"...But," started Takuto, "What are they fearing and—um—apprehensing about?"

Kuromie looked at Takuto with worry in his eyes. "That's what I'm afraid to find out."

The Galaxy Angel Guys were now waiting in the front office. Takuto was sitting on a couch twiddling his thumbs nervously, Kuromie was studying a glass cabinet that held a number of odd objects, and Lester was standing by the door. Finally, a door on the other side of the room opened, and in walked a thin, pale woman wearing a dark black gown, with long dark black hair framing her white face. She looked like a vampire—without the fangs and the bats.

"Welcome to Tops High School." said the lady extending her hand towards the Galaxy Angel Guys. She had longs nails that were painted crimson red. Her lips were painted red too. Takuto shook her hand cautiously, to avoid getting scratched by her nails.

"My name is Ursula." said the lady. "I am the principle of this school."

"I can see that." said Lester somewhat sarcastically. "Your style shows throughout this whole place."

Kuromie gave warning glance to Lester and then said, "We're happy to be at your service, Ms. Ursula. Please assign us our jobs and we will get working right away."

"Very well." said Ursula. She drew out a stack of papers from inside a drawer, and then handed them to each of the G.A.G. members.

"Takuto Meyers, your job is to teach the tenth grade History class." said Ursula, shoving a bunch of books into Takuto's arms.

"B-B-But..." sputtered Takuto. "...I failed History!"

Ursula continued on as if he hadn't said anything. "For you, Lester Coolduras, you will be teaching a P.E. class." She handed him a gym uniform. "And for you Kuromie, you will be helping me in my office, filing paperwork." To Kuromie, she handed him a stack of papers. The bell rang for the first class to begin.

"I'm Takuto Meyers, and I'm your history teacher for today!" said Takuto, writing his name with a flourish on the blackboard. He then turned to the students, grinning, but all he received back was a cold silence. "Umm, turn to page fifteen?" said Takuto sweatdropping. Still no response.

"I'm Lester Coolduras, and I'm your P.E. teacher for today." said Lester calmly to his group of students. They were currently in the gym. Like Takuto's class, there was almost no response, although a few girls whispered among themselves. Lester sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Alright, this semester, we're playing basketball. Is there anyone who wants to volunteer to show the class the rules?" Complete silence. Lester sweatdropped. "So—I guess I'll have to teach you the rules... Any volunteers to help me?" All the students held up notes that indicated that they were unable to play that day.

"WHAT?(!)" cried Lester. "You can't all be sick on the same day!"

"HA HA!" came a voice from across the gym.

"Oh no, don't tell me..." said Lester, without turning around.

"It's me! Guinness Stout!"

At this, Lester quickly swiveled to face the Hell Hound member. It was Guinness, alright. He had the same muscular build, the same cross scar on his forehead, the same spiky brown hair, and the same cocky grin on his face. The only difference was that he was wearing a gym uniform like Lester was.

"I thought you died." huffed Lester, using the same quote he used on Camus. However, Guinness didn't seem to take it as personally.

"I don't die that easily!" said Guinness, flexing his muscles. Behind him were similar jock-like teenage boys. "I coach the football team at this school." continued Guinness, pointing his thumb to the group of boys. Although they were all large and muscular, they still had that same cold silence like the rest of the students at the school.

"I see." said Lester, who really wasn't in the mood to talk to a jerk like Guinness. Especially when the jerk had the I.Q. of a cockroach.

"Oh? Is that a challenge?" said Guinness, misunderstanding Lester's simple response. "How about this? Your team against mine. The loser has to leave this school forever!"

"I'm not even TEACHING football right now!" yelled Lester agitatedly.

"You're just chicken!"

Lester resisted the urge to punt Guinness in the face.

"This is going to be a very long day..." Lester sighed while Guinness led his group of boys out of the gym, laughing hysterically.

"Why is everyone at this school so nervous?" asked Kuromie to Ursula. He was filing papers into several cabinets while Space Whale Jr. slept on another stack. Ursula was busy looking out the window. Clouds were gathering around the school.

Ursula hesitated, then said, "So you feel it too?"

"Yes, I can feel it. There's something going on at this school that you're trying to hide, isn't it?"

Ursula turned to look at Kuromie, who returned her gaze, his arms crossed.

"Please tell me what it is." said Kuromie. "I think I could help; what ever problem it is."

"You don't understand!" cried Ursula suddenly, shocking Kuromie. Her eyes were quickly filling with tears. "This is not something that you, or even you and your friends can solve! Something is coming—something not of this world is threatening to destroy this school—no, the whole world!"

"Takuto! I need to talk to you in private..." said Lester, practically yanking Takuto out of class. Lester was now in his normal outfit. The students that Takuto had been teaching-or rather, tried to teach-didn't seem to react to this at all.

"Something...weird is going on..." said Lester to Takuto, now that they were outside the classroom.

"Yeah, I know..." replied Takuto. "I can't explain this, but it feels like something bad will happen..."

"Yes, I feel that too. Oh, and Guinness is here."

"Guinness Stout?(!)" screeched Takuto, who then checked on his students to see if they had overheard him. They had, but they were too sullen to care.

"THE Guinness Stout?" continued Takuto, in a whisper now. "The same Guinness?"

"Do we know of anyone else named after a type of beer?" said Lester. (1)

"Well..." started Takuto, but Lester interrupted him.

"Listen. The point is; he's probably here to kill us too. The only good news about this is that he's a lot less smarter than the other Hell Hounds, so hopefully, he'd have forgotten."

"Think again!" came a voice from behind.

"Look out!" said Lester, shoving Takuto away as Guinness rushed toward the pair. Fortunately, he missed. Unfortunately, Guinness too had a weapon on him. Guinness's weapon was a set of steel claws that covered his knuckles, so that when he punched, he could slash too. Guinness also had his normal clothes back on.

"How the heck did you get that on school grounds?(!)" cried Takuto from the floor, pointing a shaky finger at Guinness.

"I have my ways..." said Guinness licking the claws.

"...Ew." said Lester in disgust, but he had to dodge quickly as Guinness started homing on him instead.

"You're a much better opponent!" said Guinness, dealing out punches with lightning speed. "Don't you die so quickly on me now!"

Lester had grabbed a broom from a nearby closet and was using it to block Guinness's attacks. However, he was quickly being pushed back. "Takuto!" he yelled, as Takuto watched on in somewhat of a daze. "Get Kuromie!"

Takuto snapped out of his daze in time to reply, "But he won't be able to help-"

"GET KUROMIE!" Lester interrupted.

Lester and Guinness then disappeared into another hallway.

"Stay here and don't leave the class!" Takuto ordered to his students, who finally seemed to react to something. They were all huddled at the doorway of the classroom, trying to see what the commotion was. Takuto then sprinted toward the main office where Kuromie was working.

"So you're saying..." said Kuromie to Ursula, who was sobbing into a tissue. "So you're saying that this school holds a demon?"

"Yes," sniffed Ursula. "A very strong demon. For years we—the staff and I—had tried to keep it under control, but each day it just grows stronger and stronger. We don't know how much longer we can keep it down."

"But how do you keep such a thing under control?"

"That's the worse part of it." said Ursula, looking dejectedly at Kuromie. "We were keeping him imprisoned in a magic book that I kept on my desk, but it..."

"But what?" asked Kuromie.

"It DISSAPEARED!" sobbed Ursula, louder than ever.

"KUROMIE!" came a shout. It belonged to Takuto, who crashed through the door of the main office. Takuto then said the next sentence quickly. "Lester-and-Guinness-are-fighting-and-it's-really-bad-and-Guinness-has-these-really-sharp-claw-thingies-and-Lester-wanted-me-to-get-you..."

"Guinness is here?(!)" cried Kuromie in surprise.

Space Whale Jr. awoke at this. He then let out a loud squeal.

"Jr, what's wrong?" asked Kuromie, going over the distressed space whale calf. Kuromie's eyes went blank again, and then he said suddenly, "Oh no! We must go to Lester and Guinness right away!"

"Is that all you've got?" asked Guinness to Lester, who was panting heavily. The broom Lester had been using to defend against Guinness's attacks had been sliced up.

"I didn't want to use this in a school but..." muttered Lester, pulling out his laser gun.

"OY! Lester!" yelled Takuto as he came up to his friend, Kuromie and Ursula behind him. As Lester turned to look, Guinness took the time to slice up Lester's gun too.

"Damn!" cried Lester, as the gun exploded in his hands, burning him severely.

"Are you okay?" asked Takuto, finally reaching Lester.

"Gee, you think?" said Lester, holding his right hand painfully.

"Ha ha!" cried Guinness triumphantly, advancing on the quartet, Ursula included. "I COULD just kill you here and now with these claws of mine, but I've decided instead to take you out with a bang!" He then took out a book and grinned evilly.

"Is that-?" asked Kuromie, looking towards Ursula. She nodded grimly.

Meanwhile...

"Guinness! What in the world are you doing?(!)" yelled Sherry into her walkie-talkie. She was at the front of her ship in space, with Camus mulling about behind her. "I told you to follow my orders!"

"See?" said Camus rather smugly. "I told you that meathead would never get things done."

"Shut up, you girly boy." spat Sherry angrily.

Camus frowned at this statement.

"Don't do anything risky, Guinness!" cried Ursula. "That book holds a demon fair beyond your control! You don't know the power you hold in your hands! It will destroy the world!"

"Too late..." said Takuto, as Guinness flipped open the book. It glowed and a long dark shadow escaped out of it and disappeared.

"Now you've done it!" screamed Ursula. "Everyone in the world will die because of you!"

"Yes," said Guinness rather proud of himself. "And that includes you guys!" He said, pointing to the G.A.G.

"What the HELL kind of logic is that?(!)" roared Lester. "Won't you be killed in the process too?(!)"

Guinness thought this over a bit and then said, "Oh crap..." as a large shadow loomed over him. "AHH!" he screamed as he turned to face the creature he had just unleashed.

"What—what is that?" asked Takuto in a whisper to Ursula.

"It's a shadow demon..." replied Ursula, her eyes closed in thought. "It steals shadows from its surroundings and will keep growing larger and larger until it engulfs the whole world in darkness."

"But that doesn't seem so bad..." said Takuto.

"It also steals the shadows of humans."

"And what happens when it does that?"

"That person will die."

"Oh..."

"SAVE ME!" screamed Guinness, running past the Galaxy Angel Guys, but Lester stopped his progress by grabbing a hold of his shirt.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" roared Lester, holding Guinness with his unburned hand. "You let this thing loose, so you'll be the first to die from it!"

"Ursula, isn't there way to stop this demon?" asked Takuto, thinking quickly. There was a whole building full of students that would make a great snack for the shadow demon.

"There must be a weakness!" put in Kuromie. "Everything has a weakness!"

"Well," started Ursula, "I've heard that does not like light..."

"Aha!" cried Takuto. "That's it! Ursula, is there any place you know of in this school with many electrical lights?"

Ursula understood Takuto's plan. "Yes, the cafeteria. That's the only place in this school with electrical lighting."

"I don't want to break up your conversation, but-" started Lester. "But where did that shadow thing go?"

"Arg! It's right behind us!" cried Guinness.

The demon loomed over the four—now five—and growled menacingly. Just as it was about to close over them, five shots rang out and hit the demon, making holes in its shadowy body. The demon screeched and disappeared a second time. Everyone turned to look at the person who shot the beams. It was Kuromie.

"I don't think I should handle a gun..." Kuromie said shakily, his laser gun held in both his hands.

"...Right that." stated Takuto.

"Okay everyone, ready?" asked Takuto.

They had all gathered in the (for now) unlit cafeteria, and Ursula, Kuromie, and Lester were standing at the ready to turn on all the lights when the time came. Guinness was to be the bait.

"Why do I have to be the bait?" complained Guinness. He was standing alone in the middle of large cafeteria.

"Because you unleashed this thing, so you'll be the one to do all the dirty work!" roared Lester.

"Here it comes!" cried Kuromie, pointing towards the double doors of the cafeteria. The shadow demon was gliding towards Guinness. It had grown much bigger since the last time they saw it. Fortunately, Ursula had warned all the students to stay inside brightly lit classrooms, so it had not killed anyone yet.

"NOW!" yelled Takuto, as he, Lester, Kuromie, and Ursula turned on all the lights they could.

"GAH, MY EYES!" screamed Guinness, being blinded by the many lights. Fortunately, the demon was blinded by it too, and screeched in pain as it started to shrink and melt. It kept shrinking smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely.

"Is it really gone now?" asked Takuto, cautiously going over to the spot.

Kuromie closed his eyes in concentration, then smiled. "Yes, it really is gone now."

Space Whale Jr, who was in Kuromie's arms, mewed happily.

As another ship carted Guinness away, Ursula and the students of District East Avenue Tops High School waved good bye to the G.A.G.

"We'll be forever grateful to you!" shouted Ursula, waving, as Takuto and co. flew away in a spacepod. "We'll remember you always!"

The students waved too, although in a very zombie-like manner.

Takuto smiled and waved to the group until they were out of sight, then turned to Lester and said, "That has got to be the weirdest mission we've ever had."

And Lester replied with a simple, "Right that."

**(To be Continued!)**

**Notes:**

1. "Do you know of anyone else named after a type of beer?"- Well Guinness is, and so are the other Hell Hound members. They are all named after an alcoholic beverage. Trust me, look it up yourself.

**Character Bio:**

Guinness Stout:

Gender: Male

Age: Early 20s

Height: Lester's height? I know for sure that he's the tallest of the Hell Hounds, though.

Job: A member of the Hell Hounds.

Looks: He is very muscular, with spiky brown hair, brown eyes, and a cross scar on his forehead. He also wears loose fitting clothes and pants that look ripped and worn (probably from use). His inner shirt is red (like Lester's…) and the jacket he wears over it is brown.

Personality: An obnoxious meat-head as Ranpha likes to call him. He also has a very short temper, and tends to rush into everything. Not very smart, (obviously).

My Opinion: I hate Guinness with every fiber of my being. Yes. He's just so annoying, and there's really no point to his existence, except for being a rival and a male counterpart to Ranpha. So yes, I will treat him the worst out of the other Hell Hounds. At least the other members aren't so aggravating to write about. I probably dislike him most because of my deep-rooted hatred for macho jock types. (I want to punch his face just LOOKING at his picture, if that gives you any indication of how much I dislike him.) I still gave him a weapon though, just to spice things up.

See you—NEXT TIME!

**Updated Final Notes:**

Wow, Ursula has the worst character consistency of all the original background characters in this whole fanfic. One moment she's somber, the next she's completely freaking out. Don't worry, I get better at this in later chapters…

Although I was able to use Kuromie's actual ability this one time, I don't think it ever happens again. Wooo, consistency!


	10. Ep 10, Coming to a Store Near You!

**Legal Stuff:** I don't own Galaxy Angel yadda, yadda, yadda.

**Notes: **I got the idea for this chapter while shopping in a supermarket a few weeks back...

**Coming to a Store Near You!**

"Hiya guys! How's it going?"

This voice belonged to Creta, the female mechanic of the Elle Ciel. She had come to pay a visit to the Galaxy Angel Guys, who welcomed her warmly.

"We're doing just fine!" said Takuto, who was sitting on a chair near the table in the middle of the room. "Albeit a little tired, and hungry..."

"What he means is that we're completely bankrupt and we still have barely enough food to keep ourselves alive." added Lester, who was standing by Takuto's side. "By the way, what are you doing all the way out here, Creta?"

"Well, since the emblem frames aren't being used for the time being, I don't really have much to do around the Elle Ciel anymore. Oh, and I also finished repairing that space pod you broke."

"Now all we have to worry about is paying off our debt for planet Pluto that we destroyed..." said Kuromie, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground with Space Whale Jr. in his lap.

Creta sweatdropped. "Yeah, I heard about that incident... Anyway, I've come to help you-"

"Pay off the debt?" put in Lester quickly.

"Get us food?" added Takuto hopefully.

"No, I've come to upgrade your gadgets!" said Creta happily. The G.A.G. sighed at this. "Aw come on! You won't regret this decision!"

"But we don't really need to upgrade our gadgets now." said Kuromie, standing up. "What we need is money—about 80 million of it..."

"Well, you'll need better gadgets if you want to complete your missions!" said Creta winking. "And, you'll also need more defense. I've heard that the Hell Hounds have been bothering you guys lately."

"Yes, that's true..." said Lester, considering this.

"So what do you say? I'll even do it for free!" added Creta.

"Okay, we'll do it." sighed Takuto, knowing how stubborn Creta could be when she had her mind set on something. "But what gadgets are you planning on upgrading?"

"The best gadgets are ones that are easy to carry, disguisable, and one that you use often. So, is there any item you each have that fits this description?"

"Oh, I know!" said Takuto, ripping off the triangle shaped crystal from the front of his uniform and handing it to Creta. "Do you think this will work?"

"Hmm, the chrono crystal, a piece of the lost technology. It'll be perfect!" said Creta, scooping up the crystal from Takuto's hand carefully.

"You can take this watch." said Kuromie, offering Creta the watch that Luft had issued each of the Galaxy Angel Guys. Creta accepted it.

"And you, vice-commander Lester?" asked Creta.

"Well..." started Lester, hesitating.

"How about your eyepatch?" suggested Takuto.

"WHAT?(!)" cried Lester, putting his hand protectively over the eyepatch.

"Well, since you already wear it all the time, I thought it would be a good choice..."

Lester hesitated some more, then eventually said, "Fine."

Commander Sherry shook her head in annoyance. This was the second time she had to rescue one of her crew. Camus and Guinness sat solemnly in Sherry's ship. Sherry sighed.

"Alright, it's your turn Chianti." she said into her walkie-talkie.

"This is the place!" said Takuto to the two other members happily. The G.A.G. were now standing in front of a studio. Creta had gone back to the Elle Ciel to upgrade the items. And since the G.A.G. weren't expecting any new missions for awhile, they had to get another job in the meantime.

"We're gonna audition for a commercial!" exclaimed Takuto excitedly. "Isn't that great?"

"Not really." said Lester, who had bandages wrapped around his head and covering his left eye where his eyepatch would be. Losing the eyepatch had apparently put him into a very bad mood.

"What commercial are we auditioning for?" asked Kuromie, who, as always, brought Space Whale Jr. along.

"Mew." went Space Whale Jr. happily.

"Some type of food commercial." answered Takuto. "I saw the ad in a newspaper. We'll be able to make money AND get something to eat at the same time!"

"I have a really bad feeling about this..." said Lester.

"Aw, stop being so emo." said Takuto patting Lester on the back.

"Emo?" asked Lester agitatedly as they entered the studio. "I am NOT emo."

Unfortunately, Lester's bad feeling was right, for when the G.A.G. entered the studio, a long line awaited them. The Galaxy Angel Guys groaned in unison.

After hours of waiting, Takuto and co. were finally up. A bored woman handed all three the scripts and waved them to the stage. Three critics were sitting in front of it. Two were male, one was female. They all looked as equally bored as the woman who handed out the scripts.

"Alright, we don't have all day, so let's get to the point." This was said by one of the male critics. He was holding a board with papers on it. And he was bald. "What we want-" he continued, "—Is someone with energy, charisma, enthusiasm, and more energy."

"Well we have lots!" said Takuto, a little over excitedly, and in his nervousness, he threw his arms back and accidentally whacked Lester in the face with the script.

"Wonderful. Yeah. Just great." said the other male critic, who was busy talking on a cell phone.

"Just read the script." said the female critic, who had way too much make-up on.

"Umm, okay..." said Takuto, looking down at the script. "Umm, you start first Lester!"

"Why me?(!)" he whispered, outraged. But, seeing that the critics were watching, he mumbled some curses under his breath, then read the script.

"Poor turkeys..." Lester said, in a tone of utter loathing. "Thousands of them are slaughtered every year for Thanksgiving—Hey wait, it's the middle of June! Why are we doing a commercial for Thanksgiving now?"

"It takes a while to film the commercial, edit it, then put it on air." responded the female critic. "Just continue please, we don't have all day."

"Fine." Then Lester proceeded to read the rest of the script in the driest, most hatred-loaded voice ever. "Thousands of them are slaughtered every year for Thanksgiving. Isn't it sad? Isn't there a way to live with them in harmony? I believe that somewhere out there, there is a heaven where all the slaughtered turkeys go to—goddesses, this is so retarded." Lester couldn't continue reading the script anymore. The critics, however, were in tears.

"That was the most beautiful acting I've ever seen..." said the bald critic, wiping a tear from his eye.

"You're perfect for the part!" exclaimed the female critic.

"It almost seemed like you mean it!" said the other male critic, who finally got off his cell phone.

"I do MEAN it." stated Lester flatly.

"That's great!" said the bald critic. "Just what we needed—an emo actor!"

Lester's mouth hung open in disbelief. "I am not emo!" he shouted angrily. The critics ignored this comment, however, and then turned to Takuto and Kuromie. "And what can you two do?"

"Umm, I have LOTS of enthusiasm!" said Takuto, who in his nervousness, threw back his arms and hit Lester accidentally in the face with the script again.

The critics whispered amongst each other. "It's a long shot, but he can probably do it." said the bald critic. "Okay, now for the kid with the whale."

"Well, I can-" started Kuromie, but he was interrupted by the female critic.

"Wait. We have the perfect part for you. You can play the turkey."

"W-W-What?(!)" cried Kuromie.

"Congratulations. You three have the job." said the critic with the cell phone. He had started talking on it again. "Meet us at studio 7. We begin filming right away." The three critics then shuffled out of the studio.

Lester then turned to Takuto and Kuromie and said simply, "This is SO retarded."

"I hate this place, I hate these people, and I definitely hate this suit." said Lester, whose bad mood had worsened. Especially now that he had to wear an ugly orange tux with a neon green tie. "Goddesses, these people have no fashion sense whatsoever."

"And you say you're not emo..." said Takuto jokingly, who was wearing a light blue tux, which was thankfully a hundred times better than Lester's.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Guys, calm down, please..." said Kuromie weakly. He too, was rather stressed, since he had been forced to wear a smelly old turkey costume. Space Whale Jr. was floating by Kuromie's side this time.

"Look what the cat dragged in." came a voice from behind the gang. It belonged to Riserva Chianti. He was in his normal clothes, wearing the same baggy pants, the same shirt and tie, and the same fancy white fur coat.

"Riserva!" cried the three G.A.G. members simultaneously.

Riserva looked at each of the members and then stopped at Lester. "Nice suit." He said.

"You wanna die?(!)" cried Lester angrily, lunging for him, but Takuto and Kuromie held Lester back.

"What are you doing here, Riserva?" Kuromie asked, although there was a hint of hatred in his voice.

"Haven't you heard? I'm the star of a new commercial."

"Wait, it isn't the same one as us, is it?" asked Takuto worriedly.

"Hmph, like I would star in your stupid tofu turkey commercial."

"Tofu Turkey?(!)" cried Lester. "Is that what we're filming? This just gets more and more retarded..."

"Anyway, that's my cue." said Riserva, as someone hailed him from the other side of the studio. "I best be off. Good luck. You'll need it."

"Well go and break a leg, why don't you? And I mean that literally!" Lester shouted as Riserva walked calmly away.

"Places everyone!" This was said by the bald critic, who also happened to be the director of the commercial. Then he asked Lester, "So how's my emo star doing?"

"I hate you and you're head's shinier than a waxed car." shot Lester angrily.

"Great, perfect! That's the spirit!"

Lester rolled his eyes, and then muttered under his breath, "Moron."

The director then asked, "Did you guys remember your lines?"

"Ah—er..." went Takuto who obviously hadn't memorized any.

"Don't worry, we have cue cards just in case. Just read what it says, and you'll be fine; got it? Good. Rolling in five, four, three, two, one, ACTION!"

Lester gave a long sigh, then started his melancholy "soliloquy".

"Poor turkeys..." He said, in an extremely flat and listless tone; "Thousands of them are slaughtered every year for Thanksgiving. Isn't it sad? Isn't there a way to live with them in harmony? I believe that somewhere out there, there is a heaven where all the slaughtered turkeys go to—No wait, I believe there is a whole galaxy full of turkeys, and all they do is eat and be happy..."

"Squabble..." went Kuromie, reading his cue card.

"NO! No, no, no!" cried the critic/director. "With FEELING!"

"Squabble?"

"You must become one with the turkey—you are the turkey! Try it again!"

"Squabble!"

"Louder..."

"SQUABBLE!"

Lester slapped a hand over his face, sighing, and resisted the urge to comment. Kuromie was greatly humiliated at this, and Takuto had to clap a hand over his mouth not to laugh out loud. Space Whale Jr. was watching from the side, since space whales weren't allowed in the commercial.

"Perfect! Now try it again—and flap your wings too."

This time, Kuromie let out a sigh almost as deep as Lester's.

"SQUABBLE!" Kuromie screeched, and flailed about, waving his "wings" crazily, feathers flying every which way. Unfortunately, this effect made it look like he was a turkey that was being murdered, but the director didn't seem to notice.

"Good, now continue on with the conversation Tom."

"It's Takuto."

"Whatever, Timmy."

Takuto ignored this comment and began reading the cue card.

"Not to fear, my friend!" he said to Lester. "For with this new product, turkeys and humans can finally live in harmony!"

"Great." said Lester, his voice dripping with so much sarcasm that it could probably drown the whole studio. "What is it." Lester was so fed up, that he didn't even bother to make it sound like a question.

"It's tofu! It's turkey!" Takuto continued. "It's TOFURKY!" Then Takuto burst into laughter and couldn't stop.

"CUT!" screamed the director in annoyance.

"I'm sorry, it's just such a funny word..." said Takuto, whose laughter finally subsided as he wiped tears from his eyes.

"It is NOT a funny word." said Lester flatly.

"Yes it is! Say it and try not to laugh."

"Tofurky."

Takuto burst into laughter again, while Lester looked on unamused.

"This is going to be a long day..." said Kuromie sweatdropping. Space Whale Jr. mewed from the side.

"That. Was. Horrible." said Lester, sounding out each word with hatred. He and the other two members had put their old clothes back on. "The tofurky didn't even taste good!"

Takuto burst into another stream of laughter, while Kuromie rolled his eyes.

"How about we pay a visit to Riserva?" suggested Lester suddenly, his eyes glinting evily.

"Why? He hasn't really done anything..." said Kuromie, as Takuto finally sobered up again.

"Don't forget, like the other Hell Hounds, he's probably on a mission to kill us." added Lester. "This is the perfect chance for us to finally strike first." With this, Lester grabbed a bunch of cue cards and a thick black felt pen from a desk nearby. Takuto seemed to understand quickly, and started grinning as he followed after the vice-commander.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." said Kuromie, following along as the two older members went over to Riserva's side of the studio.

"Just do whatever the cue card says." said another director to Riserva, who was lying lazily on an expensive couch.

"Fine." said Riserva standing up and going over to the set where the filming would start.

"Hurry, he's coming!" said Kuromie as Riserva approached. Kuromie was playing look-out while the two older members tinkered with the items on set. The set was made to look like a kitchen, complete with a table and two chairs. On the table, there was a plate of spaghetti and a bottle of drink—the product that was being commercialized.

"Okay, I'm done here." said Takuto, who had spiked the drink and spaghetti.

Lester was putting the last few words on the cue cards that would be used for Riserva's commercial. "Okay, I'm done here too. Let's split!"

As Riserva finally arrived on set, Takuto and co. had already scampered off the set, and were watching from the side. Fortunately, Riserva was too busy looking at his reflection in a hand mirror he held to notice that the set had been tampered with.

"Now what?" whispered Kuromie to Lester, even though the set was bustling with so much noise that Riserva wouldn't have overheard even if Kuromie had used his normal voice.

"We wait." said Lester grinning evilly.

"Takuto... what did you put in that food?" asked Kuromie worriedly, not wanting to go to jail in case Riserva died from their practical joke.

"I changed the juice in the drink to lime juice and I mixed loads of hot sauce into the spaghetti!" Exclaimed Takuto proudly.

Kuromie raised an eyebrow. Apparently he didn't understand how playing this practical joke would possibly give them a head start on their opponent. But it was too late to do anything now, as Riserva had just gotten on set, and had sat down in one of the chairs.

"Five, four, three, two, one—ACTION!" shouted Riserva's director. All the lights were now pointed down on Riserva, and the camera started rolling.

"Are you sick of drinking ordinary soda?" said Riserva. "Need something to go with your spaghetti?" With this, Riserva took a generous bite of the spaghetti on the table. Then his eyes widened, and his face started turning a deep shade red.

"Well worry no more..." continued Riserva, although in a raspy voice, for the hot sauce had done its job. Tears were welling up in the corners of his eyes from pain. "...Because with this..." continued Riserva in a strangely squeaky voice now. "...With this new drink, Plus One, you'll never want drink any other soda ever again!" With this he gulped down the liquid in the bottle, just as the cue card said to. A look of relief spread over his face, but then it was replaced with something else, for the drink was EXTREMELY sour. Riserva tried his best to keep smiling, but the corners of his mouth twitched oddly.

"Plus One has a refreshing tart taste that will leave your taste buds screaming..." Glancing at the cue card, Riserva found that he had to take another gulp from the bottle. He did, though rather reluctantly.

"Yup, it's the best soda ever... (sip) You won't be disappointed... (sip) And that's a guarantee... ugh... (sip)." His voice faltered as he took more and more sips of the lime concoction, and tried to keep his face from contorting at the same time. Meanwhile, Takuto and Kuromie tried not the crack up as they watched from the side. Lester, however, just smiled at this.

"And CUT! That was perfect!" said Riserva's director, patting Riserva on the back. But Riserva didn't hear a word of what the director said, for he had spotted the G.A.G. and was advancing on them murderously.

"That's our cue to run..." said Takuto quickly, as he and the other two members quickly climbed up a nearby ladder, their smiles gone.

"It was YOU!" yelled Riserva, breaking into a run now, and chasing after Takuto and co. On his way up the ladder, Riserva grabbed a spear from his closet on the set.

"Don't tell me he's got a weapon too..." groaned Lester.

"Yup; and by the looks of it, it's a spear." said Kuromie, who had taken a quick glance behind him.

"EEK! A dead end!" cried Takuto. Indeed, the G.A.G. had reached a dead end, for the ladder had only led them to a bunch of ceiling beams that hung over the studio. One slip, and they would fall to their deaths. The iron beams were set in a grid-like manner that made perfect squares. From these beams hung wires, ropes, and lights.

"You three almost ruined my chance at becoming a star!" came Riserva's voice, as he too reached the top of the ladder, the spear tucked under his arm. Then, grabbing one of the ropes for support, he swung the spear with the other.

"Hey watch it!" cried Takuto, as he, Lester, and Kuromie had to back away to avoid being flayed. Each of the G.A.G. members were now standing precariously on one of the beams. Lester then noticed that the rope Riserva was holding was attached to a pulley. On the other side of the pulley, the rope held a sandbag that hung near Lester's side. He suddenly got an idea.

"Do you trust me?" said Lester to his other two teammates.

"Yeah..." said Takuto hesitantly.

"No!" shouted Kuromie.

"Too late!" Lester said, as he pulled out his gun and shot at the knot that held the rope with the sandbag in place. With that, the sandbag quickly fell, as Riserva was pulled up with it by the pulley.

"Grab the rope!" yelled Lester, as he grabbed the rope with the sandbag, and descended with it. The other two followed, and when the sandbag finally stopped at the bottom, Lester, Takuto, and Kuromie were deposited safely with it. Riserva, meanwhile, was left dangling in the air, forced to hold on to the rope lest he fall.

"Get me down!" Riserva ordered, still holding on to his spear.

"Don't worry, the police will do just that." said Lester, grinning.

"Ha! You got served!" said Takuto, striking a pose.

Lester and Kuromie sighed.

"You know what?" said Lester. "I feel like having some turkey tonight."

"That's really cruel..." said Kuromie sweatdropping.

"Mew." went Space Whale Jr.

**To Be Continued!**

(Yes, another long chapter done! Yeesh, my chapters just keep getting longer and longer... At least this one was fun to write.

Yay, the tenth chapter! Thank you, to all who've taken the time to read and review my story. You know who you are. Just asking, but is this fanfiction funny to any of you? Being the writer, I can't really tell...)

**Character Bio:**

Riserva Chianti:

Gender: I'm pretty sure he's male, but some people have said that Riserva is female. Until I know for sure, I'm keeping him male. (Going by the manga, he's supposedly male…)

Age: Late teens

Height: He's the second shortest of the group. (Vermouth is the shortest.)

Job: Member of the Hell Hounds.

Looks: Like Camus, he looks very feminine. (He even has a beauty mark under his left eye!) He has short light purple hair and dark purple eyes. He usually wears fancy clothes, like a shirt and tie, and a fur coat.

Personality: He's a bit stuck up, and claims that he's rich, but no one really knows if that is true.

My Opinion: I think Riserva is cool. He's my second favorite character of the Hell Hounds. (You'll have to wait to find out my favorite!) I've heard a lot of people saying that they support Riserva x Mint. I, however, support Mint x Kuromie! ((runs))

THANKS FOR READING THIS FAR!


	11. Ep 11, Fighting for Truth and Justice!

**Legal Stuff:** I don't own Galaxy Angel. You've heard it all before...

**Fighting for Truth and Justice!**

(Or not...)

"So, how are they?" asked Creta, handing back the new and improved gadgets to the three members of the Galaxy Angel Guys.

"They look exactly the same..." said Takuto, turning the triangle of chrono crystal around in his hands.

Lester had taken back his eye patch in great annoyance, and had gone into another room to put it back on. Meanwhile, Kuromie was sitting at the table, with space whale Jr. on top of the table. Kuromie too, was fingering the "newly improved" watch.

"That's the whole point!" said Creta exasperated. "Good gadgets are-"

"Yeah, I know..." cut in Takuto. "—Those that you can disguise."

"Exactly." said Creta matter-of-factly.

Lester came back into the room as Kuromie put his watch back on.

"So, how is it?" Creta asked him.

"It still feels the same, but that's a good thing." replied Lester, still adjusting the eye patch.

"Here are the manuals." said Creta, handing three small booklets to all three members. "Read them carefully, and learn how to use the new features. After all, we don't want anyone to poke their eyes out or anything..."

"Is that supposed to be some kind of sick joke?" said Lester, the one-eyed vice-commander.

"Ah—er..." Creta sputtered.

"Don't worry about him, he's just emo..." whispered Takuto to Creta.

"I am NOT!" said Lester, swiftly whacking him with a paper fan he pulled out from somewhere. Takuto fell to the floor with a loud "crash".

"Um, I think I'll—go now." said Creta, who quickly took the chance to run out the door.

"Owee..." went the commander of the G.A.G, stars swirling around his head.

"I thought paper fans weren't supposed to hurt..." said Kuromie, bending down to help Takuto up.

"Not when he uses them..." said Takuto. "Where'd he get a paper fan from anyhow?"

Kuromie shrugged.

"Hey, you guys..." came Lester's voice. Takuto and Kuromie jumped in surprise.

"Look at this." Lester held a newspaper ad that he had been reading up to their faces.

"Man Discovers that the Earth's Core is Made of Cheese?" read Kuromie aloud.

"No, the one below that." said Lester.

"Ooh, a sale on fish sticks!" read Takuto.

Lester rolled his eyes—er, eye. "No! The one at the very bottom! It says, 'Fighting Competition: Prize is five million.'"

"Isn't that a bit much for a fighting competition?" asked Kuromie, a bit skeptical.

"Who cares, at least that's five million less of the debt we'll have to worry about." said Lester, rolling up the newspaper and putting it away.

"But we don't know how to fight..." started Takuto, but Lester butted in.

"Correction. I know how to fight. You two don't."

"It's awfully dangerous nonetheless." said Kuromie with worry. "It says that you have to fight until you drop, which means there's a great chance that you could lose your life."

"Well, it's a chance I'll have to take." said Lester, gravely.

"Lester..." started Takuto, sadly.

"Yes?"

Takuto then finished the next sentence in a much too cheerful tone.

"If you die, can I have all your stuff?"

Takuto was immediately paper-fanned.

"I don't like it here..." said Takuto, following Lester, with Kuromie behind him. They were at the stadium where the fighting competition would occur. The small group of three was quite squished from the crowd of other competitors.

"These guys look like they're on steroids..." said Kuromie, looking uncomfortable. "Are you sure this competition is even legal? Lester?"

Unfortunately, Kuromie's question was left hanging when the G.A.G. came face to face with another Hell Hound member...

"You!" said Lester vehemently.

"Red Eye!" said Takuto, when he saw who it was.

Indeed, it was Red Eye, for there was no mistaking those red and blue eyes, the messy red hair, the long scar running down his face and chest, and the... man skirt he was wearing...

"Hmph." replied Red Eye calmly. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Why is it that we always happen to meet up with one of the Hell Hounds?" cried Lester. "Is this bad luck?"

"Coincidence?" added Kuromie.

"Karma?" put in Takuto.

"Whatever it is, it is still my duty to kill you, as Sherry's orders state." said Red Eye.

"Not on my watch." said Lester, stepping in front of Takuto and Kuromie.

"I'll look forward to fighting you." Red Eye said as he brushed past Takuto and co. Then quietly, he added to himself, "ALL of you."

The competition was now well under way. Takuto, Lester and Kuromie took a good seat near the front. Lester had already registered to fight and was waiting his turn. Kuromie was covering Space Whale Jr.'s eyes from the violence that ensued from the arena.

"Yeesh, this is really brutal..." said Takuto, cringing at every hit that occurred in the ring.

"I'll say..." said Lester, looking at the current match tentatively.

"You're up next..." said Kuromie as the victor for the match was announced.

"Wish me luck." said Lester getting up from his seat.

"Good luck!" yelled Kuromie as Lester made his way bravely to the ring.

"Yeah, break a le—Ow!" yelped Takuto as Kuromie hit him with Lester's paper fan.

"Not. The thing. To say. At this moment!" said Kuromie through clenched teeth, gripping Space Whale Jr. with his left arm while he wielded the paper fan threateningly in his other.

"Sorry..." groaned Takuto, rubbing the spot where Kuromie had hit him.

"Up next, Lester Coolduras versus the Kung-fu Masta!" the speakers overhead shouted.

Lester got up onto the ring, which was a large cement square in the middle of the stadium. He stood in the indicated corner while the Kung-fu Masta got up into the other corner opposite Lester.

"You win when your opponent gets knocked unconscious, gets injured so badly that he can't fight, or gets knocked out of the ring!" continued the speakers in a booming voice. "No quitting! Okay, 3, 2, 1, BEGIN!"

Lester and—the other guy quickly went into fighting stances.

"I know kung-fu!" said the Kung-Fu Masta.

"That's nice." said Lester, as both men ran towards each other.

K.F.M (a.k.a Kung-Fu Masta) tried to punch Lester in the face, but unfortunately for him (and fortunately for Lester) K.F.M was too short, so the punch was more directed to Lester's chest. Because of this, Lester was easily able to deflect this blow, and with one strong kick of his leg into K.F.M's stomach, K.F.M. was sent flying off of the square and onto the ground. The crowd cheered with applause as Lester calmly got off stage.

"That was great!" said Takuto rushing up to Lester as he got off the ring.

"I'm glad you ended the fight without doing too much damage." said Kuromie, rather proud of Lester's victory.

"Well, I'm saving my strength for my match with Red Eye." said Lester, and glared across the ring to where Red Eye was standing. Red Eye returned the glare and then got up on stage for his match.

"Oh wow, he defeated that guy in just 10 seconds!" said Kuromie, as the opponent Red Eye faced was defeated in the same manner as Lester's.

"Umm, Kuromie, look at this!" said Takuto, tugging Kuromie's sleeve and pointing to the electronic billboard that stood over the stadium. The next two contesters were listed as "Kuromie Quark" and "Takuto Meyers". Lester gave an angry glance at the other two G.A.G. members who was looking at the billboard in shock.

"I didn't sign up for it!" cried Kuromie, panic overwhelming him.

"I didn't either!" Takuto wailed like a little girl.

"Then who...?" asked Lester.

"I did." It was Red Eye who said this. He suddenly appeared in front of the Galaxy Angel Guys. "I signed them up."

"You little..." started Lester.

"And don't try forfeiting the match either." said Red Eye, though this was directed more towards Takuto and Kuromie. "I signed you up as a team, so if any one of you tries forfeiting, then everyone in your team loses. The only way you can get out of the match is if you get hit out of the ring or—well, you get the idea."

"How dare you get my friends into this!" shouted Lester angrily. "This is between you and me! You didn't have to get my friends involved!"

"Too late." said Red Eye, as the speakers announced the competitors of the next match. "You're up next Kuromie."

Kuromie's face paled as he heard his name being called. From his arms Space Whale Jr. gave a weak "mew."

"Kuromie, listen to me," said Lester bending down so he was at Kuromie's level. "Take a hit and fake a fall. You'll never be able to last in this kind of tournament!"

"Yeah, Kuromie, you'll die! And you're still so young..." said Takuto quite seriously, for once.

"Don't worry." said Kuromie, giving Space Whale Jr. to Takuto, and walking towards the ring, his head held high. "I'll be alright."

"Up next," boomed the speakers, "It's Kuromie Quark versus Big Billy!"

"Wha...?" said Kuromie, but he didn't get to finish his exclamation as a very large person stomped onto the ring. No, he wasn't large because he was muscular. Instead he was large because of his fat.

"MATCH BEGIN!" yelled the speakers, and so it did.

"RARG!" yelled Big Billy, as he did a cannonball towards poor little Kuromie.

"AHHH!" screamed Kuromie, as he swiftly dodged, and Billy crashed with a tremendous thud on the concrete square.

"Kuromie!" cried Takuto and Lester in worry.

"I'm... okay..." said Kuromie, distancing himself from Billy who had to take time to recover from the result of the attempted attack.

"I'll get you this time!" yelled Billy, as he once again charged at his target like a raging bull. Again, Kuromie dodged. Then Kuromie got a sudden idea.

As he dodged Billy, he ran for the other side of the ring, then stood at the edge.

"Kuromie, what the hell are you doing?(!)" cried Lester, as Billy charged for Kuromie again. But this time, Kuromie stood his ground.

"He's suicidal!" cried Takuto, covering his eyes. And then he covered Space Whale Jr's eyes.

But just when it seemed like their friend would be turned into a pancake, Kuromie did something amazing. Just as Billy neared, Kuromie jumped over his head, and landed safely behind Billy. Billy, however, lost his balance, and toppled over the edge of the ring, thereby disqualifying himself.

"And Kuromie wins!" boomed the speakers as everyone applauded again.

"Kuromie..." said Takuto in utter shock as Kuromie jumped off the ring. "I... I didn't know you had such acrobatic ability!"

"Do you think taking care of plants and animals is all I do on the Elle Ciel?" asked Kuromie, flashing a smile.

"Gee, who would've thought?" said Lester, though he meant this as a compliment.

"It's your turn, Takuto." said Kuromie. Takuto gulped as HIS name was called.

"But-But..." Takuto sputtered. "I'm too young to die!"

Lester angrily threw him onto the concrete square and said, "Just take a hit and fake a fall!"

Takuto got up and examined his opponent. His opponent was named "The Masked Fighter," which was quite true, since his opponent was wearing a mask—a paper bag over his head with eyeholes cut into it, to be exact. He was also wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and a red blanket which doubled as a cape.

"Umm..." said Takuto, scratching his head at the silly display.

"I am The Masked Fighter!" yelled the person of the same name. "And I-" here, he did and intricate victory pose. "—Will defeat you!"

"Okay..." said Takuto sweatdropping.

With this, M.F. (a.k.a Masked Fighter) punched Takuto in the left cheek. Takuto crumpled to the ground.

"Dammit Takuto!" yelled Lester. "Keep your eyes on your opponent at all times!"

"Sorry..." said Takuto, getting back up, and rubbing his left cheek tenderly.

"You will never defeat me!" continued M.F. "For justice will prevail!"

"You don't really have to wear a mask you know." said Takuto. "Wouldn't that get in the way when you're fighting?"

"Do not anger the Masked Fighter, for he does not like to get angry!"

"I'm just stating the obvious..."

"Don't make me-"

"Can't you take off that mask? I would at least like to know my opponent's face before we fight anymore."

"NO! It's very important that I keep my identity secret..."

Takuto had found his opponent's weak spot.

"Ah, okay." said Takuto calmly. "You don't have to take off that mask—I know who you are." He was bluffing, of course.

"No you don't..." said M.F. nervously.

"Yes I do."

"You can't... My mask hides all..."

"Hah, I bet you're just a broke collage student."

"How did you...?"

"And to top it all off, I bet your just a computer nerd—with braces!" finished Takuto triumphantly.

"NO!" screamed M.F., bending backwards as if in agony. "HOW COULD YOU KNOW?(!)" With this, M.F. took a running leap off the cement square ran out of stadium. A sudden silence pervaded the arena. Takuto too, was surprised that his plan had worked so well.

"Wow, I have good guessing skills!" said Takuto happily while everyone in the audience was trying to get their brains to catch up with the event that had just happened.

"...What the HELL just happened?" asked Lester, still blinking in surprise. Kuromie just shook his head, meaning that he hadn't the faintest idea either.

And so, to make an already long story short, each of the G.A.G. members moved up through the ranks; Lester because of his fighting skills, Kuromie because of his agility, and Takuto because of his cleverness and pure luck. Finally, there were only three matches left: Takuto versus Lester and Kuromie versus Red Eye. The winners of these matches would move on to the final round.

First up, it was Takuto and Lester.

"Well, best friend," said Takuto. "It's been awhile since we've had to face each other this way."

"Yeah," added Lester. "I just hope this will be the last time we meet like this..."

With that, Lester immediately punted Takuto in the stomach and sent him flying over the edge of the ring.

"And Lester wins!" shouted the speakers as the crowd applauded once again.

"No fair!" cried Takuto, fully winded. "I wasn't even ready!"

"That's the point." said Lester, as he got off the ring and helped Takuto up. "It wouldn't look real if I had warned you ahead of time."

"Kuromie, are you sure you'll be okay against Red Eye?" said Takuto, turning to Kuromie.

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" said Kuromie gravely.

"Just take a hit and-" started Lester, but Kuromie interrupted.

"Yes, I know." said Kuromie, giving Space Whale Jr. to Takuto again.

"Don't try to act tough and fight Red Eye." Lester warned. "Red Eye is much more experienced than he's letting on."

"Okay." said Kuromie, smiling weakly as he got onto the ring.

"The second match is Kuromie Quark versus Red Eye! The same rules apply. BEGIN!" boomed the speakers once again. And so, the match started.

Kuromie ran towards the edge closest to him, but Red Eye blocked his path.

"Going somewhere?" said Red Eye menacingly.

Kuromie panicked and began to run towards the other side, but found his way blocked once again by Red Eye.

"Oh no!" cried Lester. "Red Eye's just too fast for him!"

Red Eye launched a punch, which Kuromie barely dodged. Unfortunately, Red Eye followed it up with a low kick, which caused Kuromie to lose his balance. Red Eye took this chance to land several punches on the poor boy which sent him flying out of the ring.

"And Red Eye wins!" boomed the speakers, as the two older G.A.G. members rushed to their fallen comrade.

"Kuromie! KUROMIE!" yelled Takuto, shaking the young boy, but he had fallen unconscious.

"Get him to a doctor." said Lester coldly, and Takuto looked up in surprise. Lester now had a bloodthirsty look on his face that Takuto had only seen a few times when his friend was really mad.

"I'll take care of Red Eye." said Lester in the same cold tone, as he got up on the ring for the final match.

"Takuto..." came Kuromie's voice, and Takuto looked down in surprise.

"Kuromie! You shouldn't talk... You're badly hurt..." said Takuto, trying to shush the boy.

"Red Eye has a weapon with him..."

"A weapon...?" said Takuto, turning towards the ring where the match was already beginning. "Lester! Wait!"

Lester didn't seem to hear him though, as he and Red Eye were already engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat; and unfortunately, Takuto couldn't interfere. They attacked and countered each other perfectly, and as the sun started to set, they still hadn't gotten anywhere. Finally, Red Eye lost his patience.

"I can't stand anymore of this!" cried Red Eye, as he pulled out his weapon, a chain attached to a heavy metal spiked ball.

"Hey!" said Lester, who too was quite tired by now. "Weapons aren't allowed in this tournament!"

A wave of panic passed through the crowd. A woman screamed.

"I don't care about this stupid tournament anymore." Red Eye muttered, swinging the metal ball over his head. "My mission was to kill you. I thought that this tournament would make it easier because you would be tired. But I was wrong."

With this, Red Eye swung the spiked ball towards Lester. He was able to dodge, but the weapon totally obliterated a corner of the ring. Now people in the audience were running towards the exit.

"Lester!" cried Takuto, as Lester ran towards him.

"Take Kuromie and run to higher ground." Lester ordered Takuto. "I'll deal with Red Eye."

"But you'll surely be killed without a weapon!" insisted Takuto, taking the now sleeping boy in his arms.

"Just DO IT!"

Takuto gripped Kuromie and started up the stands. Space Whale Jr., who had been looking over Kuromie, followed. At the very top of the stands, Takuto laid Kuromie down in one of the seats.

"Please watch over him." Takuto asked Space Whale Jr. Space Whale Jr. nodded in agreement, then floated up and touched Takuto's chrono crystal with his muzzle. The triangle glowed then returned to normal.

"Of course!" said Takuto, taking off the crystal. "Creta upgraded it! Thanks for reminding me, Jr!" Takuto then began running towards the ring again.

Lester and Red Eye were once again engaged in fierce combat—but this time, Lester was losing badly. Although he was able to dodge the full force of the heavy metal ball, the spikes had scratched his arms and legs, and he was now a bloody mess.

"Lester!" cried Takuto, as Lester fell to the ground out of exhaustion, his cloak in tatters.

"I told you to stay with Kuromie!" Lester grunted weakly. It took all of his strength just to hold himself from falling flat on the ground.

"I'll never leave you like this! You're my best friend!"

"How sweet." This was said by Red Eye as he came upon Takuto and Lester. "What a happy little reunion. Too bad I have to end it."

"You've done enough damage here!" yelled Takuto angrily. "You've hurt Kuromie, and now Lester! I won't forgive you for this!"

"Prove it."

Takuto quickly ran to the other side of the stadium. Red Eye saw through his plan, though.

"So... He wants to get me away from you, huh?" said Red Eye to Lester. "Well then, I'll save you for later." Red Eye swiftly followed Takuto, while Lester could only watch on.

"Oh crud!" said Takuto, when he found out that his path was blocked by debris from the previous fight.

"You're trapped now." said Red Eye, as he advanced on the lone Takuto.

Takuto fingered the chrono crystal. On the backside were several small buttons. Unfortunately, he hadn't even taken one look at the manual, so he had no idea what they did.

"I guess I'll have to take the risk..." said Takuto, but Red Eye overheard.

"What?"

"HIYAH!" yelled Takuto, turning around suddenly while pressing one of the buttons. It flashed brightly as a camera sound followed. Fortunately, it also blinded Red Eye temporarily.

"Cool! A camera!" said Takuto, but Red Eye was already regaining his senses. "I mean; that's not very helpful!"

In panic, Takuto pressed another random button, which caused a small claw to emerge from the front.

"Oh well, here goes!" cried Takuto, closing his eyes, and throwing it towards Red Eye, who was lunging to attack. The claw grasped onto Red Eye's shirt front, and several wires sprung up and closed over him. He fell to the ground, tied up, as his weapon clanged to the floor near him.

Takuto finally opened his eyes, then looked at the struggling Red Eye. "Wow, that worked better than I thought..." he said, scratching his head.

"How dare you enter in a fighting tournament—and an illegal one at that!" scolded Kela, the Elle Ciel nurse. Since Kuromie was on good terms with her, he had been able to call her down to give them first aid. Kela had finished bandaging Lester's wounds and was now cleaning Kuromie's.

"But we needed the money..." started Takuto, but Kela interrupted him angrily.

"Your lives are more precious than money!"

"At least that Red Eye guy was sent to jail." said Kuromie happily.

"Yeah, just what he deserved." put in Lester.

Space Whale Jr. mewed suddenly, as the mail arrived. There was a large brown package. Lester took it and opened it.

"Oh, wowee!" said Takuto as a rather large golden trophy was revealed. "It's a trophy for the one who wins the tournament!"

"But I didn't win..." said Lester as a note fell out of the package. Kuromie picked it up and read it out loud.

"Hmm, it says here that you won by default, since Red Eye disqualified himself by using a weapon in the last match. And here..." with this, Kuromie turned the note around to reveal a check. "Here is a check for five million dollars..."

"So I guess we did win, after all!" said Takuto happily.

"Here." said Lester, handing Takuto the trophy. "You deserve it."

"But, it says that you're the winner-" started Takuto, but Lester shook his head.

"That may be true, but if it weren't for you, Kuromie and I would have lost our lives. So I think you deserve it more than me."

Takuto smiled, and then said simply, "Thank you."

**To Be Continued!**

And so, another long chapter ends... I have got to learn how to write shorter—these long chapters are really starting to kill me. (It took me three days just to write this... That's absolutely ridiculous!) I need a break...

Oh, and I suck at action scenes. Also, I gave Kuromie acrobatic abilities… Well, why not? I already gave the two girly-est members of the Hell Hounds some extra physical abilities… (I doubt Camus and Riserva are actually able to handle weapons in the canon GA universe)

**Character Bio:**

Red Eye:

Gender: Male

Age: Late teens

Height: His height is probably the near the middle of the Hell Hounds—He's shorter than both Guiness and Camus, yet taller than both Riserva and Vermouth.

Job: He's a member of the Hell Hounds.

Looks: He has messy red hair, and different colored eyes. His left on is red while his right one is blue. He also has a long scar running down his face and chest. He wears loose, short clothes that are easy to fight in. (The colors are red and black) He also wears knee-high black socks.

Personality: He too, like Guiness, is a very good fighter, but more because of skill than strength. He is a man of few words who seems to have had a very tough past.

My opinion: Unfortunately, Red Eye is one of those characters that I simply don't care much about because he had so little screen time in the manga. I mean, he speaks only about two sentences throughout the whole Galaxy Angel series! I bet I would have liked him more if I actually knew more about him. Once again, I had to make a lot of stuff up. And I gave him a weapon too. Personally, I thought I made him talk too much in this chapter, but it fit pretty well in the end. Only one more Hell Hound member to go...

And so, another chapter is brought to a close. But what will the Galaxy Angel Guys face next? What are the other abilities of the new and improved gadgets? Will Takuto ever learn to read a manual? Find out—next time!

**Updated Final Notes:**

Once again, we witness the return of hammerspace! Because it's totally plausible for Red Eye to hide a LARGE, SPHERICAL, SPIKED weapon in the folds of his skirt, or something.

…You know what? I don't want to think all that hard about where he's been keeping it, urgh…

Also, Kuromie suddenly has acrobatic abilities now! And the rest of the Hell Hounds can actually use weapons! I'm pretty sure (canon-wise), only Guinness and Red Eye actually know how to fight. But I've already made up a lot of stuff so it hasn't stopped me from making up more stuff in later chapters…


	12. Ep 12, Seeing Double

**Legal Stuff:** I do not own Galaxy Angel. The anime is owned by Madhouse Media and the game and manga are owned by Broccoli. The art of the game and manga were drawn by Kanan.

**Seeing Double**

"How much more money do we owe?" asked Takuto, while Kuromie was punching some numbers into a calculator.

"65 million..." said Kuromie weakly, dropping the calculator and plopping down on the couch. Space Whale Jr., who was next to Kuromie on the couch, mewed.

"This is all your fault!" shouted Lester angrily to Takuto. "If you hadn't gone and destroyed Pluto, we wouldn't have to live like this!"

By "this", the vice-commander meant sustaining only on a meal of cold cereal and packaged ramen—every single day up to this point.

"This can't be good for my health..." Lester said, as he went to stare out a window, while Takuto and Kuromie could only sigh at the current condition of their lives.

"Hey guys!" said General Luft, as he burst through the door unexpectedly.

"GAH!" shouted Lester, turning around so quickly that he knocked over a lamp from a nearby table.

"AHH!" screamed Kuromie, falling off the couch from shock.

"TAKE COVER!" cried Takuto, as he took a running leap and ducked behind a chair.

It took a few moments for it to register in the G.A.G.'s minds that it was only Luft who had arrived.

"General Luft?" cried the Galaxy Angel Guys in unison, although Takuto was still in the habit of calling him "Professor Luft".

"Gee, you guys are still so jumpy." Luft joked.

Lester resisted a great urge to say, "I thought you died," while Takuto said out loud, "What brings you here today?"

"I'm here to give you three a mission, remember?"

There were groans heard from the three members.

"Couldn't that have waited until we finished paying back the debt?" suggested Kuromie.

"Nope, sorry! You'll just have to pay it off on your own time!" said Luft, way too cheerfully for the current situation.

More groans were heard.

"This time," Luft continued, "You'll have to infiltrate Temapo Island. The wildlife is dying there and there are rumors saying that a strange force on the island is what's causing the wildlife to die. However, I believe that this "strange force" is actually the cause of human hands."

"That's horrible!" cried Kuromie, picking up Space Whale Jr. "Who would do such a thing?"

"Well, that's what you three are going to find out." said Luft. "Oh yeah, and NO SLACKING OFF!"

"Yes, sir!" said the three members of the G.A.G. in unison, saluting General Luft.

"Wow, I've always wanted to come here!" said Kuromie happily, surveying the island with Space Whale Jr. in his arms.

"I can see why." said Lester, spotting the vast wildlife that inhabited the island.

Takuto, who was unusually silent for the past few minutes, finally spoke up. "We must protect this island! For the sake of all these animals!"

"Yes!" joined in Kuromie. "We must find the culprit and punish them for their evil deeds!"

Lester only smiled and nodded in agreement.

A blue and green dragonfly floated lazily in the distance.

Meanwhile...

Sherry looked with pity at her pathetic mercenary group, who, while being able to kill off entire fleets, could not even kill three guys. And already, four of them had to be rescued from police ships. No, this was not a high point in Sherry's life at all.

"If Vermouth can do what you four couldn't, then I'm giving him Camus's leadership title." Sherry said, coldly.

Camus made a face at this statement.

"Search carefully, and don't leave any rock unturned." said Takuto, finally taking command for the first time. The G.A.G. were currently in the jungle portion of Temapo, and had found few clues.

"There sure are a lot of footprints around here." continued Takuto, scratching his head and looking down at the ground.

"That's because many ecologists and biologists come here." said Lester, matter-of-factly. "It's quite a popular spot. This place has only been closed recently due to the disappearing animals."

"Okay, we know that the animals are dying, and that something is causing the animals to die. But what is it?" asked Kuromie, more to himself than to the others. Suddenly, Space Whale Jr. jumped out from Kuromie's arms and started mewing strangely.

"What's wrong, Jr.?"

After getting the attention of the members, Space Whale Jr. promptly ran—flew, rather—deeper into the jungle.

"Oh!" cried Kuromie. "He wants us to follow him!"

"Well, let's follow him then!" said Lester, and the three members hurriedly ran after the space whale calf.

So they twisted and turned through the jungle, Jr. and Kuromie in the lead with Lester and Takuto following behind. Unfortunately, however, at a fork in the path, Takuto tripped on a tree root and fell, as Lester disappeared into the right path.

"Hey, wait up!" Takuto cried, unknowingly taking the left path, while a dragonfly followed closely behind.

Lester ran quickly to catch up to Kuromie, who was a lot faster than he had thought. Although he lost sight of Kuromie, he could still see his small footprints embedded in the mud. Eventually he came to a clearing, where Kuromie was standing still, holding Space Whale Jr. in his arms.

"Hey, Kuromie-" started Lester, but then he stopped mid-sentence when he saw what was in front of him.

Dead animals, literally hundreds of them, were on the ground. Birds were hanging dead from tree branches, their beautiful rainbow feathers dulled. Monkeys, leopards, jungle hogs, and various other creatures were all lying on the ground; the stench of their rotting meat was overwhelming. Dead insects, too, littered the ground, and although Lester tried not to, with each step towards Kuromie, there was a loud, dry crunch as he crushed the dead bugs underneath. There were tears flowing down Kuromie's face.

"Why?" he choked out angrily. "Why?(!) Why would someone do this?(!)"

Lester was silent for a while, and then said slowly, "I don't know. But whoever did this will be brought to justice. I'll make sure of it." Lester then bent down to inspect the dead animal bodies.

"That's strange," he said; "There aren't any stab wounds or bullet wounds."

"That's because the animals here died by radiation poisoning." said Kuromie suddenly, making Lester look up at him in surprise. "I used the new features on my watch to analyze the chemistry of these animals, and I found unusually high levels of radiation." Kuromie continued. "I have also found that as we moved deeper into the jungle, there seems to be more radiation in the air. The animals we see here must have died slowly, and must have been exposed to this radiation for a long time, for it takes a while for that much radiation to build up to become deadly."

"Still, I don't like the sound of that..." said Lester, quickly standing up again. "I don't want to stay in this jungle much longer. Let's wrap this mission up quickly."

"Where's Takuto?" asked Kuromie, who seemed to have temporarily snapped out of his sadness.

"Oh great!" cried Lester, throwing his arms up in the air. "Now we have to find him too?"

"I think... I think I'm lost..." Takuto concluded, as he stood in another jungle clearing, all alone and dirty. "Darn my bad navigation skills!" he shouted to no one in particular, since he was (obviously) in a deserted place.

Takuto looked around helplessly one more time, then finally sat down on a dead log to think as a "buzz" sound from a nearby dragonfly pervaded the area.

"I wonder if I can use the chrono crystal to help me out here?" he asked himself, taking off the triangle from his uniform and holding it up to the light. The crystal gave off many glittering rays as the sun hit it. Then suddenly, Takuto saw a stranger's reflection in the crystal...

"Uwah!" he cried, quickly standing up and turning around, to face the stranger, but what he saw instead was a familiar face. "Lester!"

"I've been looking for you everywhere." said Lester, whose voice sounded a bit odd. "It's time to go, we've finished the mission."

"Wha-" sputtered Takuto. "Already? And where's Kuromie?"

"He's waiting for us at the Temapo base. A helicopter will be here to pick us up soon."

"Ah, okay—OUCH!" cried Takuto, as Lester practically dragged Takuto by the collar towards the Temapo base.

"Dammit! Where the hell is he?(!)" shouted Lester angrily. He and Kuromie were still deep in the jungle. They were retracing their footsteps to hopefully find their clumsy commander.

"Look! His foot steps end here!" Kuromie cried, pointing to the spot, and sure enough, there was an imprint of Takuto's whole body in the mud a few feet from it. Lester shook his head.

"He tripped and fell." stated Lester flatly. "I should have known something like this would happen."

Space Whale Jr.'s mews brought the two member's attentions to another set of Takuto's footprints.

"Oh, I think I understand what happened." said Kuromie, beginning to follow the new set to the left. "He chose the wrong path."

"Well, let's hope we can catch up with him before he gets eaten by a python." said Lester, while Kuromie looked at him in fear. "I was just kidding." Lester added calmly, though in his mind, he hoped that things didn't happen as he had joked.

A dragonfly followed the two as they emerged into the clearing were Takuto had been.

"Look, he must have stopped to rest here." said Kuromie, going over to the log. "Yup, it's still warm. That means that he must have left this place only a while ago."

"But why did he have to leave in the first place?" asked Lester, examining two strange streaks in the ground. A sudden fear of realization struck him.

"It looks like he was dragged away!" cried Lester as Kuromie quickly went over to where Lester was standing.

"There's another set of footprints right here! Slightly larger, wearing men's shoes." said Kuromie, after studying the mysterious footprints.

Space Whale Jr. sniffed at the footprints and then turned to Lester mewing.

"What's it trying to say?" asked Lester to Kuromie. Kuromie studied Jr.'s movements for a while, then his eyes widened.

"Lester, may you put your foot in one of the stranger's footprints?" Kuromie asked Lester. Lester was puzzled, but he did as he was told, and lo and behold, it was a perfect fit.

The two members looked at each other in confusion, then Lester burst out angrily, "What the HELL? I've never even been to this part of the jungle before!"

Kuromie was about to speak when suddenly, large green vines emerged from deep within the jungle and wrapped around him and Space Whale Jr.

"Kuromie!" shouted Lester, taking out his gun. Unfortunately, he couldn't shoot or he risked the chance of injuring Kuromie.

Lester had no choice but to watch as Kuromie was dragged into the depths of the jungle. Kuromie was unable to scream because the vines had also wrapped around his mouth, although he struggled fiercely. As Kuromie was all but gone from sight, Lester faced a difficult decision he had to make. Either follow Kuromie deeper into the jungle, or follow the stranger's footprints and rescue Takuto. Finally, Lester decided that he would have a better chance at rescuing Kuromie if Takuto was there to help; so after punching a tree in anger, and sending his prayers that Kuromie would be able to survive a bit longer, Lester quickly followed the stranger's steps toward Temapo base.

"Will you quit pulling—please?" pleaded Takuto, to the Lester that was dragging him towards the base.

"We must get there quickly." replied Lester in an almost monotone voice, nodding towards the jungle. "Vermouth is in there."

"What?(!)" cried the commander of the G.A.G. "Vermouth? You mean that geeky kid with the green hair and swirly glasses?"

"Yes, that Vermouth. He has many spies afoot on this island, and also many special robots that can take the form of the people you trust most."

"Oh great," said Takuto, remembering his last run in with a similar robot on the Elle Ciel which almost cost him his dignity. "Not another one of those."

"Yes, but this time, he has even more."

"Crudites..." said Takuto to himself. "Oh hey, we've reached the base!"

Indeed they had. They had just emerged out of the jungle and were now in a large clearing with one lone building in the distance. But then an awfully familiar voice stopped them...

"Takuto! There you—What the hell?" this was said by Lester, who had just come upon the two, and had stopped to stare at his look-alike in surprise.

Takuto gasped. "You're a robot sent by Vermouth, aren't you?(!)"

A puzzled look crossed Lester's (the real one) face as he looked from Takuto to the look-alike next to him. Then suddenly, it all made sense.

"Takuto, don't be an idiot!" Lester cried, putting a distance between Takuto and the robot clone that looked like him. "THAT's Vermouth's robot! Not me!"

"Heh, Vermouth's robot are really getting smarter aren't they?" said the Lester clone, calmly, going over to Takuto and putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's OBVIOUS that it's using the information you revealed to try to trick you."

"Don't you DARE touch Takuto!" shouted Lester aggressively.

"Umm..." went Takuto, who was more than a little confused.

"Takuto, you've got to believe me!" pleaded Lester.

"Since when have I pleaded to you?" said the clone to Takuto.

"Well, he's right on that point..." said Takuto scratching his head.

Lester's anger rose dramatically as he clenched the gun in his hand. He would have shot the clone right away, if not for the gun that the clone was pointing at Takuto's head. Takuto, however, was unaware of this.

"Please, it's me!" pleaded Lester once again, but then his anger exploded. "You've got to believe me—or I'll FREAKING PUNCH THE CRAP OUTTA YOU!"

Takuto took a few uneasy steps backwards as the clone calmly went and stood next to Lester.

"Okay," started the clone. "We'll settle it THIS way. We'll let Takuto chose who the real one is while the fake one will be loaded away and sent to a junkyard. He should know, after all, I AM his best friend."

"You? Don't make me laugh." said Lester disgustedly.

"It's all up to you." said the clone, turning to Takuto.

Takuto looked quickly at one Lester to the other. One was smiling rather calmly, while one (the real one) was looking at him angrily, with arms folded.

"I choose-" started Takuto.

"I thought I knew you better than this..." said Lester vehemently, as he was loaded, handcuffed, into a barred truck by two police officers. Takuto and the clone, however, just stared on, smiling. "I thought I knew you better than THIS!" Lester cried again, in one last desperate attempt.

"Your vile tricks won't work on me, anymore, you evil clone!" said Takuto triumphantly, pointing a finger in Lester's face between the barred windows of the truck.

"Be careful, he might bite it off." said the clone, smiling slyly. Takuto quickly withdrew said finger.

"Well, at least you're getting your just desserts!" Takuto said, as the truck drove away, with Lester looking on dejectedly.

"Well, you're an idiot, and it's going to get you killed someday!" shouted Lester angrily as the truck took a turn which hid Takuto and the clone from view.

"Let's go see Kuromie!" said Takuto happily to the clone, who he still didn't know was a clone.

"That's what I was thinking." said the clone evilly, a red glint in his eye.

Meanwhile, Lester was still in the truck, which was driving steadily on.

"Hey!" he shouted to the police officers, trying to convince them that they had made a mistake. But then he noticed the metal of their necks and realized that they were just robots too.

"Guess I'll just have to do everything myself..." Lester said, breaking the chain of the handcuffs by hooking it onto the door handle of the truck. Since he had no gun (the "police officers" had taken it), Lester busted the door down, and quickly jumped out, while the truck ambled on as if nothing had happened.

Lester quickly retraced the truck's tires back to the Temapo base. Upon reaching it, he saw Takuto standing all alone in the clearing. Lester quickly rushed up to him.

"Takuto, are you alright?" Lester asked worriedly to Takuto, who had his head down. Suddenly, "Takuto" grabbed Lester by the front of his collar and raised him in the air.

"You're another robot clone!" Lester barely managed to choke out as he was being strangled by the robot.

"I won't kill you...yet." came Vermouth's voice from the clone's mouth. "I'll let you see your friends one last time before you die a slow and painful death."

As the clone said these last words, Lester passed out. A dragonfly buzzed nearby.

Lester didn't know where he was when he finally regained consciousness, but he felt the sensation of being thrown down into a dark area. A familiar voice sounded.

"Lester?"

As Lester's vision cleared, he saw the faint outline of his best friend sitting on a stone bench. They were inside a prison, no doubt.

"Takuto?" he said groggily.

"Lester!" cried Takuto happily, running towards the vice commander as he shakily stood up.

"Takuto!" Lester too, cried happily, but as Takuto was about to hug him, Lester punched Takuto hard in the stomach, which sent him flying into the far wall and onto the ground.

"What was... that for...?" Takuto wheezed as he picked himself up off the ground.

"Sorry." stated Lester flatly. "I had to make sure you were real."

"That's okay! I'm okay!" said Takuto, grinning despite the massive pain. "Except for a few... you know, BROKEN RIBS..."

"Shush!" said Lester. "I'm trying to think of a way out of here..."

A few silent moments passed with Takuto looking awkwardly at Lester. Then Takuto tried to break the silence.

"Umm, we're still friends, right?"

This comment seemed to put Lester into an extremely bad mood again.

"Friends?(!)" lashed out Lester angrily. "Your stupid decision almost killed me, you, and Kuromie!" He advanced on Takuto, who took many steps back until his back hit the wall. Lester, however, continued.

"Friends? I HATE you, and I mean that in the meanest, harshest way possible!"

"CLINK."

Takuto had unexpectedly stepped on a secret switch, which caused the door he was currently leaning against to slide back suddenly. The two friends looked at each other, then the door, then back at each other again in stunned silence. Then finally, Takuto spoke up.

"Hey, look, a secret passage!" He then looked hopefully at Lester, who only responded with a steely gaze.

"I STILL hate you."

Takuto groaned.

"So... How are we going to find Kuromie?" asked Takuto, who was following Lester down a dark hallway. And unfortunately, Lester still didn't have a weapon.

"I don't know..." said Lester between clenched teeth, easing his way along the corridor. "I'm trying to figure this out as we go."

"There's a light up ahead!" said Takuto, pointing. As the two neared it, they found that it was actually a lab room. In it were a hundred more robot clones of Takuto and Lester. At the very back of the room, there was a balcony, which held a squirming Kuromie tied to a chair, an equally upset Space Whale Jr. in a cage barely bigger than itself, and an evil green haired brat by the name of Vermouth Matin, who was in a rather large chair facing a HUGE computer screen.

"I've been expecting you two." said Vermouth, turning around to face the two older members. Vermouth was still wearing the same old green Chinese styled outfit, and he still had the same swirly glasses. "You guys aren't as smart as I thought you would be." With this, Vermouth waved their attention towards the computer screen, which showed a live video of themselves.

"Wha—how?" Takuto sputtered, then he noticed a dragonfly hovering near his shoulder. "Ooh! A dragonfly!"

"You DOLT!" Lester screamed, resisting the urge to strangle the life out of Takuto and instead grabbing the dragonfly fiercely. "The dragonfly was a camera all along! I should have known something fishy was up when the dragonfly followed us around everywhere!"

Lester quickly crushed the mini-sized camera, much to Vermouth's horror.

"Hey, you can't just go around destroying my robots!" Vermouth shouted angrily.

"Well, you shouldn't just go around invading other's privacy, kidnapping people, and ruining other's relationships!" Lester shouted back.

"Ooh, good one!" Takuto said. Lester rolled his eyes and turned to Takuto.

"That's not helping."

"Sorry..."

"Enough fooling around!" shouted Vermouth, taking out something that looked an awful lot like a game controller. "You'll be turned into dust before you know it! Go get them my robots!" With this, Vermouth began pressing the many buttons on the game controller, and slowly, but surely, the robot clones began to come to life.

Lester quickly stole a laser gun from the nearest robot, then said to Takuto, "Stay behind me."

"Why?"

"You don't want me to 'accidentally' kill you, do you?"

"You have a point there..."

With that said, Lester quickly charged through the army of robots, blasting them as he went, while Takuto was left to deal with the rest of the robots Lester hadn't destroyed.

"Aw, why do they always have to pick on me?" wailed Takuto, as the horde of angry robot clones that looked like him approached. "Stand back! I have a gun!" Takuto cried, but the gun was shot out of his hands by one of the robots; and unfortunately, all the robots carried guns.

Lester, meanwhile, was still charging towards the balcony.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted Vermouth, rapidly pressing some buttons on the control pad and sending the Lester clones toward Lester. Lester skillfully shot them all down with his laser gun and took a running leap towards the balcony.

"Fifty against one isn't fair!" Takuto cried, as his horde neared and raised their guns. Without thinking, Takuto took out the chrono crystal and pressed a random button. The crystal became a large shield, blocking all the laser blasts that the robots shot out. The laser blasts instead rebounded, and hit all of the robots, destroying them. When this short scene was over, the crystal returned back to its normal size, leaving the real Takuto unharmed.

"This is such the coolest toy!" said Takuto, clutching the crystal in his hand. After a few seconds of looking lovingly at the gadget, he eventually remembered the current mission and took a run towards the balcony which Lester was climbing onto.

"Your plot ends here!" shouted Lester, grabbing Vermouth by the back of his outfit as he tried to run away and dangling him in the air.

"Let me go you punk!" Vermouth shouted, though it was of no use against his considerably larger opponent.

"Kuromie! Are you okay?" Takuto asked, releasing Kuromie from his bonds. Kuromie then bent down to unlock Space Whale Jr.'s cage. Upon freeing Jr., Kuromie straightened and stared at Vermouth sternly.

"It was the production of his robot clones that caused all this radiation," said Kuromie. "And thus, the radiation that killed off the animals here."

Lester took Vermouth outside and dangled him over a ledge over the ocean. It would be a steep fall.

"Should I let the waves finish this brat off?" Lester asked the two other members.

"No! Please don't let me die..." Vermouth pleaded. "I'm too young to die!"

"No, don't kill him." said Kuromie, going over to Lester. "That would just make us as bad as the Hell Hounds. Let's leave it to the authorities to handle this one."

After a few moments of silence, Lester finally agreed, thereupon putting Vermouth down, safely away from the edge. Takuto and Kuromie quickly tied him up.

"Ha, ha!" started Takuto; "You just got-"

"You say that stupid quote one more time and I'll drop-kick you off this ledge." Lester threatened.

Takuto immediately shut up.

"Well, despite all that, this mission was quite fun." said Takuto, as the G.A.G. (finally) trudged towards the Temapo base.

"Yeah," put in Lester; "If almost getting killed is your definition of 'fun'."

"Well," said Kuromie cheerfully; "It wouldn't be a normal mission if no one tried to kill us, right?"

Lester stopped in his tracks briefly. "Please say that you were being sarcastic…"

"Mew." went Space Whale Jr. happily.

"Well, at least we won't be having another mission for a LONG while!" said Takuto.

But then his watch started beeping. The three members looked at each other, then down at the watch. Finally, Takuto pressed a button on the watch and a hologram of Luft showed up.

"It's time for another mission!" said the hologram of Luft, flashing a smile.

"I..." started Takuto. "I spoke to soon—didn't I?"

**To Be Continued!**

Well this chapter was fun to write. I wanted to put in more details, but then the chapter would have been too long... Anyways, Temapo is an island I made up. It doesn't exist. At first, I was going to use the Galapagos Islands, but then I realized that there was almost no jungle. So I had to make up another non-existent place to set the story in.

**Character Bio:**

Vermouth Matin:

Gender: Male

Age: Mid-teens (I would like to pretend that he's 15.)

Height: The shortest of the bunch. (Poor guy)

Job: Member of the Hell Hounds who specialty is creating and controlling robots and machines.

Looks: He has messy green hair (broccoli head!), red headband, swirly glasses, and wears a green Chinese outfit to match. He looks very geeky.

Personality: Geeky, nerdy, yet very smart. A computer wiz. Also an annoying brat who likes to talk smack to his enemies.

My Opinion: Strangely enough, Vermouth is actually one of my favorite Hell Hound characters... (don't ask me why, because I have no idea) Even so, I still find it enjoyable to poke fun at him. I don't have much to say about Vermouth, other than that I think he didn't get enough talking time in the manga. He's pretty easy to keep in character, but I've always imagined him speaking in Mandark's (from Dexter's Lab.) voice... Yeah... He didn't get any weapons because he already has all the machines and whatnot to do his dirty work.

**Updated Final Notes:**

…You remember those tree vines that kidnapped Kuromie? Well… I never really explain exactly WHY they could move. Just pretend they mutated due to radiation or something. (shrugs)


	13. Ep 13, A Babysitter's Worst Nightmare

**Legal Stuff:** I do not own Galaxy Angel. The anime is owned by Madhouse Media and the game and manga are owned by Broccoli. The art of the game and manga were drawn by Kanan.

**A Babysitter's Worst Nightmare**

"Babysitting?(!)" cried the three members of the Galaxy Angel Guys in unison when they heard their latest mission.

"What's so important about that?" said Lester angrily. "The G.A.G. were created to do missions to save the world, am I correct? Then why are we wasting time to babysit?(!)"

"Ah, but it's a very important child that you have to babysit." said hologram Luft calmly. The hologram was being emitted from Takuto's watch, and the Galaxy Angel Guys were currently in a space pod going to their next destination. The space pod was on autopilot.

"Oh, then are we babysitting a prince or princess?" asked Takuto to the Luft hologram.

"Something like that." was all that he got in reply.

"I don't like the sound of this..." said Lester suspiciously.

"Lester, relax. You're too pessimistic for your own good." said Kuromie holding Space Whale Jr. in his arms.

"True, true." joked Takuto, turning off the watch and cutting off connection with General Luft. "You worry too much. No wonder your hair's white."

Lester narrowed his eyes angrily. "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong." He said, reciting a famous line from one of Murphy's Laws.

Takuto and Kuromie, however, just proceeded to brush this statement off.

Lester sighed, then turned to look out the window of the space pod.

"Hey guys..." he started, backing away from the window suddenly. "Why are we in space?"

Takuto and Kuromie gave each other puzzled looks, then rushed to the window.

"Oh my gosh!" shouted Takuto when he saw that what Lester said was true. "We really ARE in space!"

"But what for?" asked Kuromie worriedly to Takuto. "And what's that thing?"

"What thing?" shouted Takuto and Lester in unison, pressing their faces to the window, straining to see where Kuromie was now pointing. A large black sphere loomed in the distance.

"The Black Moon!" gasped Lester.

"And Eonia's ships!" cried Takuto seeing the many purple ships (a trademark of Eonia) emerge out of the darkness.

"Is Luft trying to send us to our doom?(!)" shouted Lester angrily.

Takuto's watch began beeping. He pressed a button, and Luft's hologram showed up once again.

"So you've finally realized your destination." said Luft calmly, smiling up at the stunned looks of the G.A.G. "Your mission is to babysit someone inside the Black Moon."

"Are you trying to kill us?" Lester shouted, but Takuto interrupted.

"I believe in Professor Luft." he said. "I'm sure there must be a reason for this mission."

"Yes," said Luft calmly. "Your REAL mission is to find out as much as you can about the Black Moon and Eonia's plans."

"Ah," said Takuto triumphantly. "So the babysitting thing was just a ruse to hide the real plan!"

"Indeed." said Luft. "Now you boys be careful, and if you should ever need a quick get away, you can always use this ship. Just don't let Takuto drive."

Lester and Kuromie glanced at Takuto, who gave a nervous laugh. Luft's hologram message disappeared just as the pod began to land at the Black Moon's dock.

"This is easier said than done..." said Lester, turning to the two other members. "There's so many things that could go wrong-"

"Don't worry!" put in Takuto. "We'll be fine as long as we stick together!"

"We already HAVE a problem." said Lester, completely ignoring Takuto's last statement. "For one, we're not exactly hard to recognize..."

The three members looked at each other. Their unique uniforms made them stand out immensely.

"Two," Lester continued, "We don't look very much like babysitters either."

"Yeah," said Takuto, scratching his head. "You're right... A guy wearing a captain's outfit, a guy wearing a military suit, and a kid wearing a boy scout's uniform don't exactly look like babysitters..."

"Ah-" Kuromie started, but then stopped in mid-sentence to say, "This is NOT a boy scout's uniform!"

The small pod shook slightly as it made contact with the dock. Soon, the airlock would be in place, and then the door would open.

"We've got to disguise ourselves...quickly!" said Lester, going into a bit of a panic.

Kuromie calmly pressed a button on his newly improved watch, and a blue light surrounded him. When the light disappeared, Kuromie was wearing a white cloak that went below his knees and had long sleeves. He was also now wearing white baggy pants, and a hat with a red cross on it; a nurse's symbol.

"...How did you do that?(!)" asked Takuto in wonder.

"Simple," Kuromie replied. "It's a new function on my watch."

"Can we do it too?"

"I don't think so... Creta said that each gadget has a completely different set of abilities. The only thing all of them have in common is that they can analyze data, and we can use it to communicate with each other."

"Oh... Wait, we can?"

Kuromie gave Takuto a funny look. "Didn't you read the manual?"

"Er..." stuttered Takuto, but Lester interrupted.

"We can talk about this later. I just found some new outfits in the ship's closet." With that, he threw Takuto a package of clothes. Takuto opened it, and amazingly, it looked exactly the same as Kuromie's—except, well, bigger.

Lester shook his head in disgust as he opened his package. "If only they didn't look so much like dresses..."

"Welcome to the Black Moon."

This was said by a man wearing a black and purple uniform. He was standing at the entrance of the space pod as the three members of the G.A.G. got out. (Kuromie had to leave Space Whale Jr. behind because he was too much of a giveaway.) The man was a servant of Eonia's, apparently.

"Aw, no fair!" started Takuto. "Why don't we get cool uniforms like that on the Ell-?"

"Quiet!" Lester whispered urgently, elbowing Takuto hard in the stomach. "I don't want you giving away our cover in only the ten seconds that we've been here!"

"Sorry..."

"If you please..." said the same man who greeted them, trying to get their attention. "I shall lead you now to the young lady."

"Ah, of course." said Takuto, quickly regaining his composure.

"I still don't know who we're babysitting..." whispered Kuromie as the three followed the servant deeper into the Black Moon.

"All we know is that it's a girl." added Lester, also whispering. "What do you think, Takuto?"

Takuto, however, was deep in thought.

"Here we are." said the servant coldly, stopping in front of a black tinted glass door. He pressed the palm of his hand on the scanner next to the door, and the door slid open quickly. The G.A.G. stepped inside while the servant waited outside, and the door closed behind them.

"…Wow." said all three of the G.A.G. as they stared around the room.

The room was fairly large, only slightly smaller than a cafeteria. The whole room was a pastel blue color, with a wide window instead of a wall at the far end. Through the window, one could see the galaxy. There were puffy beanbags of assorted colors thrown about in a messy manner (along with other various items), and a bed in the shape of a giant pink lotus directly in the middle. Near the bed was a light blue low table, made of plastic. Overhead hung many glow-in-the-dark stars, complete with a round white paper lantern hanging directly over the bed. The room also had a large computer system on one side, with gadgets scattered around, and a large pink robotic bunny opposite. The robot was around the size of a full grown brown bear. Connected to this room via glass sliding doors was a greenhouse to the right.

"…Whoah…" continued Kuromie.

"Daaaang." went Takuto.

"…Ew." finished Lester in disgust, since apparently, this room was much too un-manly for him.

"So you babysitters have finally arrived." came an angry girl's voice from the midst of the lotus bed. As the G.A.G. came closer, they noticed that a little blonde girl in a white leotard had been lying there all along. She was lying on her stomach, facing the large window, her back turned to the guys. She also had a white tentacle for a left hand.

"I don't understand why brother even hired babysitters for me." The girl continued. "After all, I'm old enough to take care of myself."

"Noa!" gasped Takuto, finally realizing who this little girl was.

Noa spun around to face the three members in surprise, and then her eyes fell on Takuto. She began to smile a sinister little smile.

"So we finally meet again, Commander Meyers."

"Wait... You know her?" asked Lester, with an expression of surprise mixed with confusion. Kuromie just looked from Takuto, to Noa, to Takuto again; utterly lost.

"Yeah, I met her before." Said Takuto, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I met her when I was captured on the Black Moon."

Kuromie gasped at this statement. "You were captured on the Black Moon?" He exclaimed, but Lester held out an arm to quiet him. Noa was stepping down from the bed. The G.A.G. waited with baited breath, not knowing what she would do. They backed away slowly when she started to advance upon them.

"Oh come now." Said Noa, a bit annoyed by the display. "I'm not THAT dangerous." Here, she gave a small giggle.

"I don't know your true power," Said Takuto through gritted teeth. "But I know that you are much more powerful than the little girl that you portray yourself as."

Noa looked surprised for a moment, but then her evil smile returned. "The smart one, aren't you? Well, since you are my babysitters for today, I suggest that you guys keep me in a good mood."

"And why should we listen to YOU?" put in Lester angrily.

"Because if you don't keep me amused, I will personally tell my big brother about your true intent and he will **KILL YOU**."

Kuromie looked worriedly at the two older members. Lester sighed, placing a hand over his forehead, then looked over at Takuto, implying that it was his decision.

"Well," started Takuto, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess we have no choice, do we? So…What do you want to do?" asked Takuto to Noa.

Noa smiled evilly.

"TEA PARTY?(!)" screeched Lester. "Double-You-Tee-Eff!" The three members of the G.A.G. were currently sitting around the plastic blue table. Noa had gone into a side closet to get some things.

"Double-You-Tee-Eff?" asked Kuromie quizzically.

"It spells out WTF…" whispered Takuto, and then he added slightly louder, "Well, hey, it could be worse right?"

"Yeah, but this is still pretty humiliating…" whispered Lester.

"Why are we whispering?" asked Noa, flashing an innocent smile as she appeared out of nowhere next to Lester.

"Gah!" he cried, jumping away, and tripping over a beanbag, which caused him to fall on his bottom with a loud crash.

Noa shook her head disdainfully. "Honestly, you guys are all so jumpy."

"…I've heard that phrase somewhere before." Said Kuromie sweatdropping, while Takuto helped Lester up. "Um, anyway—!" Kuromie then said, to change the subject. "—So, if there is going to be a tea party, where are all the teapots and whatnot?"

"I'm glad you asked." Said Noa, flashing another one of her wicked smiles.

"Warg!" cried Takuto, as he barely dodged a spinning disk aimed straight for him. It was a purple ceramic tea platter.

"Darn, missed." Huffed Noa, who was holding a basket full of tea set items. "Well try dodging THIS!" She reared up and threw a cup this time, straight at Kuromie's face.

"Hii-yah!" yelled Lester, using a pillow to block the blow. "Everyone, take cover!" Lester added quickly. Takuto quickly ran behind an awfully bright green bean bag while Kuromie hid behind the now overturned plastic table. Noa then began her full scale attack, throwing dishes and cups around like a maniac. Surprisingly, she was using her left hand, which had the tentacle, to throw. And amazingly still, it fired the ammunition with immense strength and god-like speed.

"Please—stop—this!" shouted Lester, over the sound of shattering dishes, as he used the pillow to block all the blows coming his way. Takuto and Kuromie could do nothing but watch. Fortunately, the hail of tea ware stopped as soon as it started, for Noa quickly ran out of dishes and cups.

"Oh well." She said, almost playfully. "I'll just have to use THESE." From the basket, she pulled out a dozen small knives.

"For Goddesses sake!" yelled Lester, exasperated. "No one in their right mind would give a ten year old kniv-!" But his sentence was cut short as he swiftly dodged a knife thrown skillfully by Noa.

"Iyaah!" cried (or rather, screamed) Takuto, as a knife plunged into the beanbag he had been hiding behind, spilling the contents onto the floor. He quickly took cover behind the upturned table next to Kuromie.

"Now I've got you!" shouted Noa happily, throwing five knives at once towards the table.

"Ahh!" cried Kuromie, as the knives sunk through the plastic of the table and went through to the other side. One of them struck Kuromie in the shoulder. Luckily, it only just scraped him. However, the blow caused the small table to fall on its side, leaving the two members defenseless.

"DIE!" screeched Noa in an almost demon-like voice, tossing four of the knives at Takuto and Kuromie.

"YARG!" yelled Lester, who appeared suddenly behind the two. He swiftly kicked up a beanbag, which sheltered them all from any hits.

"Hurry!" Lester continued, "We must hide inside the greenhouse!" The G.A.G. did just that.

"Darn…" muttered Noa, disappointed. "I forgot about the big one. Oh well… Unfortunately for the Galaxy Angel Guys, many more dangers await in there." Here, she gave another evil giggle, and, dropping her last knife to the floor, she quietly went after the three.

"Arg. Arg! ARG!"

This was said by a very angry Sherry, who was leading the way into the Black Moon. Her miserable mercenary team followed behind, all of their heads hung in shame.

"…Does…Does this mean that I can keep my leadership title?" Camus asked tentatively. Sherry's anger seemed to flare up at this.

"You shut up! Just—SHUT UP!"

"Yes m'am…"

"You five are honestly the WORST mercenary group I've ever seen in my entire LIFE!" screamed Sherry at the Hell Hounds. "Not only have you failed to capture the G.A.G., but you've also wasted our funds!"

"So that means…?" asked Guinness in a hushed whisper, but Sherry overheard.

"It means we won't be getting any paychecks for a month!" shouted Sherry, her voice echoing throughout all of the Black Moon. Some of Eonia's henchmen in the vicinity looked at her quizzically. Vermouth recoiled, Riserva looked disdainfully at her, Guinness had on a confused look, Camus was in a state of shock, and Red Eye stayed expressionless.

"Sherry!" This was said by Eonia, who was just approaching them. The five Hell Hound members quickly bowed, including Sherry.

"Lord Eonia!"

"You can stand up now." They did.

"What is it that your lordship wishes?" asked Sherry, whose angry expression had changed to an extremely happy one.

"Suck up." Whispered Vermouth. Sherry, who overheard, gave the poor boy a swift kick to the head, leaving behind a large bump and causing his eyes to become almost as swirly as his glasses. Eonia sweatdropped slightly at this incident, and then replied.

"I want you to go to Noa's room."

"What? Lady Noa?" Sherry asked, surprised.

"Yes. There has been a lot of noise coming from her room lately, and I want you to check it out."

"Why don't you go yourself?" butted in Camus. "After all, aren't you guys supposed to be rela-" He was immediately shut up by a hard elbow to the stomach, delivered by none other than Sherry.

"Don't worry Eonia, leave it to us!" She added quickly.

"Good. I'll be going back to my quarter's now." With this, Eonia swept off to his room.

"Well, you heard him. Let's go." Sherry said to the Hell Hounds. Riserva, however, had started shivering violently.

"…Noa's room…" said Riserva, his voice quivering. "I-I don't want to go in there!"

All the Hell Hounds, including Sherry, stared at him, confused.

"Why?" asked Guinness, because he felt that he needed to know the answer to everything.

"It's because of the last time I went into her room, uninvited… The last time…"

**(LAST TIME):**

"Let's play dress up!" said Noa, in a sickly sweet voice, holding a bunch of dresses and a case of make-up in her hands. She said this to a struggling Riserva, whose limbs were all chained to a wall, torture-like.

"No…No! NOOOO!" screamed Riserva in agony.

**(END FLASHBACK)**

"Noo!" wailed Riserva as Guinness dragged him away by the scruff of his coat, towards Noa's room with the other Hell Hounds in front. "NOOO!"

"What do we do now?" cried Takuto, going into full panic mode. The Galaxy Angel Guys were currently standing inside the greenhouse of the Black Moon. There were three paths diverging from where they stood.

"Well," started Lester. "One, we could stay here, and get killed. Two, we could each split up and take one of these paths—and still get killed anyway."

"Gee, you're the optimistic, aren't you?" Kuromie said, voice loaded with sarcasm.

"Alright," said Takuto, taking command. "Lester can take the right path, Kuromie can take the left one, and I'll take the center one. Let's split up!" With this, they parted, just as Noa came upon the spot.

"So, they think that they have a better chance to survive by splitting up, huh?" said Noa aloud. "I'll just have to pick them off one by one." Using her tentacle hand, she swung from tree to tree, following the right path, giggling all the while.

Lester was running as fast as he could through the greenhouse, but the tree trunks, branches, and bushes were hindering his process.

"Greenhouse? I think they should call this a jungle instead." He said through gritted teeth. Finally, a clearing came into view. Lester ran faster towards it—and almost toppled over the edge of a waterfall. Fortunately, he stopped just in time. The waterfall was at least twenty feet high, plummeting towards a deep stream. Unfortunately for him, Noa had caught up.

"I've found you!" she said in a girly voice, as she swung down from a tree branch.

"Noa!" Lester gasped, turning around to face her.

"You're trapped, and there's no where to run!" She said this in a singsong voice.

"Think again." Said Lester calmly, falling backwards and off the ledge. Noa gave a gasp of surprise and hurriedly ran up to the edge. She saw a splash, and then saw the vice-commander swimming away.

"Hmph. Lucky." Noa said, annoyed.

Kuromie was rushing along a narrow path. Although he was the fastest of the G.A.G., he was also the weakest, and soon, he had to stop to rest. Kuromie sat down under the shade of a large tree and rested. Since he could do nothing in his current condition, he began to look around him.

"This greenhouse is even bigger than the one on the Elle Ciel…" Kuromie said to no one in particular, as he inspected a space hibiscus. He then heard a noise deeper in the forest of trees, and went to investigate. He trudged carefully through the forest, with glass winged butterflies fluttering around peacefully. The noise slowly got louder, until Kuromie finally reached the edge of the forest. There was a wide clearing, with wolves roaming around.

"They're fidgety because they haven't eaten in a week."

Kuromie gasped at this voice. It was Noa. She was sitting on a large rock next to where he was standing.

"Do you like this place?" Noa asked.

"…Yes, I do." Replied Kuromie slowly, unsure of what Noa was trying to do. "The Black Moon has a beautiful greenhouse."

"Then you'll be happy if it is your grave, won't you?"

"…What?"

With this, Noa quickly pulled out a whistle and blew on it. Kuromie had a look of shock and utter terror as he finally realized Noa's ploy.

"I suggest you run." Said Noa, flashing one of her smiles. Kuromie quickly did so.

The wolves had heard the whistle, and they had seen Kuromie. Now, wolves aren't creatures who normally attack humans, or eat them, but since they had been starved for a week, they were willing to eat anything. And although Kuromie got a head start, the wolves were quickly gaining on him. Kuromie looked at his watch frantically. He couldn't think of any functions that he could use in this current situation. Taking a glance behind him, he saw the wolves were only mere feet away. By chance, Kuromie looked up and saw a low hanging tree branch. Taking a risk, he gathered all of his remaining energy into one last sprint, and leapt for the branch. Successfully grabbing it, he swung his body over the top, just as the wolves were running past. Kuromie took a moment to catch his breath, then he nimbly jumped from tree branch to tree branch back towards the entrance of the greenhouse. From higher up, Noa was sitting on a branch, watching the scene. Her temper rose as she went to hunt down her final victim.

"Wowie, this place is huge…" said Commander Takuto, who was following the path. It led him to a clearing that had rows upon rows of potted plants. The plants had tall stems, some five feet tall, with strange pods hanging from them. Takuto tapped one hesitantly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Came Noa's voice from above. Takuto quickly looked up.

"Noa!"

Noa was very angry now. "That's an awfully rude way to greet your host." She said, glaring down at the commander.

"Well, at least I don't try to kill my guests with dishes and knives!" Takuto argued back.

"At least it would have been a less painful death than being eaten alive." Noa giggled.

"What?" cried Takuto, as he faced the potted plants once again. The pods were starting to open, to reveal large, sharp teeth.

"Space Venus Fly Traps!" exclaimed Takuto, remembering his painful run-in with them on the Elle Ciel. However, these ones were much larger than the ones he had seen.

"Be careful, they don't like being woken from their afternoon nap." Said Noa, amused.

"ARGH!" screamed Takuto, running as fast as he could through the forest of biting fly traps. One of them took his nurse's hat. Another took a bite out of his cloak.

"It's times like this that I wish venus fly traps were vegetarians!" Takuto cried, as he neared the end of the row. Luckily, he was able to make it out alive, with only a few articles of clothing missing. He quickly continued along the path. Noa's temper rose a few degrees higher.

"Well, this isn't fun at all." She said, watching Takuto disappear into the forest once again. "I was hoping at least ONE of them would die." Noa studied the path a bit more, then her smile returned. "That path leads back to the entrance so… If I guess right, all three of them will eventually meet back at the entrance. It's easier to kill them all at once anyway." With another giggle, she swung through the treetops.

"I don't wanna go in!" wailed Riserva, clinging to Sherry. Sherry looked somewhat disgusted. She and the Hell Hounds were in front of Noa's room. None of them dared to go in, however, without Noa's permission. Camus knocked on the door again. There was no answer.

"Should we barge in?" asked Guinness, hesitantly.

"Yeah, and end up like that guy." Said Red Eye, nodding towards the wailing Riserva.

"I think I hear something!" said Vermouth, who had his ear pressed against the sliding glass doors.

"Open the door." Sherry ordered Camus. "We might as well go in and see if Lady Noa is okay." Camus sighed and placed his hand on the scanning pad. Riserva immediately leapt up to try and stop him.

"NO! You don't know how she'll-" started Riserva, but just then, the sliding glass doors opened, revealing a messy room, with broken dishes, ripped pillows and beanbags, and knives scattered about the floor.

"And I though MY room was messy…" said Vermouth, as the Galaxy Angel Guys burst into the room from the greenhouse.

"You!" Both teams exclaimed simultaneously.

"Hell Hounds!" exclaimed the G.A.G.

"Galaxy Angel Guys!" exclaimed the Hell Hounds.

"Noa…" moaned Riserva, pointing behind the G.A.G. And sure enough, he was right. Noa too, had just emerged from the greenhouse, smiling her trademark smile.

"We're surrounded!" cried Takuto, as he and the two other members began backing towards the center of the room.

"I can see that!" said Lester in annoyance, still sopping wet from his swim.

"What will we do?" asked Kuromie to the two older members.

"…Is that a rhetorical question?"

"TAKUTO!" went both of the other two G.A.G. members.

"You're through Galaxy Angel Guys!" said Sherry triumphantly, stepping in front of her mercenary group.

"Yes, but first…" said Noa, taking out a remote controller. After pressing a few buttons, the giant robotic bunny from the side of the room began to come to life.

"That's MY invention!" gasped Vermouth, when he saw the robot.

"Wait, why would you invent a robot bunny?" questioned Guinness.

"Why would you invent a PINK robot bunny?" put in Camus.

"Er…" stammered Vermouth.

"Talk is cheap." Interrupted Noa pressing another button. The robot bunny opened its mouth, shooting a net at the G.A.G. members, capturing them underneath.

"Eonia will be very pleased!" said Sherry happily.

From under the net, the three members groaned.

"So, are you in the mood to play dress up again?" asked Noa sweetly as she appeared next to Riserva.

"…Very funny." Said Riserva, backing away quickly, trying to keep his shivering under control.

Meanwhile…

Another ship was docking at the Black Moon. The door opened, and a young lady stepped out. She was wearing a fancy white dress with frilly sleeves, and had white hair down to her shoulders. She also wore glasses. The servant from earlier greeted her.

"Welcome to the Black Moon, Lady Lulu."

Lulu smiled evilly.

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's notes:** I have mixed feelings about this chapter. I'm slightly pleased, yet slightly disappointed. I kinda rushed to finish this one, so it might not be as good as my other chapters, but I did want to get it done by the end of this weekend. The parts that I don't like the most are the greenhouse scene and the Riserva flashback scene. The greenhouse scene was VERY rushed, and the Riserva scene was just plain weird. I actually considered not putting it into the chapter at all, since, a) It was totally random; b) has absolutely NOTHING to do with this fanfic storyline; and c) Riserva is acting completely OOC. But since I already spent a great deal of time putting it in here, I decided to leave it like that. (Yeah, I'm being lazy—sue me.) And who knows, maybe I'll be able to create some interesting chapters with that. So—Riserva's fear of Noa is here to stay! (Plus, Riserva and Noa already seemed to have some tension between them in the manga, so I guess it'll work out…Hopefully.)

**Character Bio:**

Noa (no last name, or last name unknown):

Gender: Female

Age: She seems about ten, but no one really knows for sure.

Height: It's pretty close to Shiva's height.

Job: Following Eonia around, annoying the heck out of everyone else. (Just kidding, about the "annoy the heck out of everyone" part.) She can analyze data and much more, but we're getting into spoiler territory here.

Looks: She takes the form of a little blonde girl with purple eyes. Her hair reaches down to her feet. She wears what looks like a high-tech version of a leotard. She has a white tentacle for a left hand, and she wears boots with fur lining the tops. She also wears high white stockings, with the right one going above her knee, and the left one stopping right at her knee. She also has tan skin, like that of Eonia.

Personality: Well, Noa sure has and interesting personality… She acts all sweet and girly, especially to her "big brother" Eonia, but when she's not around him, she's actually not as sweet as you'd think. She seems to be mean to everyone else but Eonia. And she does seem a little spoiled, since Eonia spoils her, by letting her sit in his lap during battles and whatnot. However, the manga version Noa and the game version Noa seem to be completely different. I'll need to play the game (when they finally release it in English) to make sure.

My Opinion: …I don't really like Noa all that much. I mean, she'd make a cool villain, but personality-wise, I would say that she ranks average with me. I think I made her a bit too psycho killer in this chapter though…

**See you next time!**


	14. Ep 14, Catfight! Sherry vs Lulu!

**Legal Stuff:** I do not own Galaxy Angel. The anime is owned by Madhouse Media and the game and manga are owned by Broccoli. The art of the game and manga were drawn by Kanan.

**Catfight! Sherry vs. Lulu!**

The G.A.G. were sitting miserably in their tiny prison cell on board the Black Moon. Actually, to be more exact, it was more of a large bird's cage, with strong iron chains hooking it up to the ceiling. The cage hung perilously over a pit full of burning acid. The Hell Hounds and Lady Sherry were nearby, surrounding the area and guarding all four exits lest the three members escape. Sherry was elated.

"Wait until Lord Eonia hears about this!" said Sherry, clasping her hands to her heart.

"Yar, yar; we've heard you say that at least a hundred times already." came Vermouth's voice. He was lying lazily on a large slab of rock, which there was plenty of in this room of the Black Moon.

"Actually, she's only said it twenty four times." said Guinness, who was loafing around.

"…I was BEING sarcastic." retorted Vermouth, rolling his eyes—although one couldn't really tell with those swirly glasses of his.

Camus was sitting on another rock, Riserva next to him, with Red Eye leaning casually on the nearby wall. And fortunately for both Vermouth and Guinness, Sherry was too busy raving about how great Lord Eonia was to hear their comments.

And the Galaxy Angel Guys were sitting miserably in their prison—but that's been said already. The G.A.G. had also ditched their nurse costumes from earlier (which they had been wearing over their normal outfits).

"We are so screwed." Said Lester simply, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the cage. Takuto was also sitting cross-legged next to him, and Kuromie was standing at the edge, looking solemnly out through the bars. Takuto seemed deep in thought.

"Hey Lester," started Takuto suddenly, breaking the silence. "If a cat always lands on its feet, and toast always lands on the buttered side; then if we tie a piece of toast butter side-up onto the back of a cat, will it float?"

"…What the HELL kind of question is that?(!)" Lester spat. "And what the heck does that have to do with the situation we're in now?(!)"

"Well… Absolutely nothing!"

There was a loud "THWACK" and a strangled "Gah!" from Takuto as Lester swiftly whacked Takuto over the head with his closed fist.

"Lester, please." Said Kuromie, turning to face the two older members. "We have to work together if we want to get out of this place alive."

"I know that!" put in Lester angrily. "Unfortunately, our leader is somewhere in Lala Land thinking about cats and toast!"

"…I like toast." Said Takuto randomly.

"Don't make me smack you again." Lester threatened, and Takuto drew back quickly.

"I wonder if Space Whale Jr.'s okay…" thought Kuromie, sighing, as he remembered how he had left the space whale calf inside the space pod at the landing dock.

"You actually mean to tell me that the Galaxy Angel Guys have been captured?" asked Eonia, pleasantly surprised. He and Noa were currently standing in his room.

"Yes, dear brother." Said Noa in the same sickly sweet tone, waving her tentacle arm around playfully.

"Wonderful! With the Galaxy Angel Guys (ugh, that's a long name) in my grasp, I will interrogate them about their plans, hold them for ransom, and then lie and torture them to a horrid and painful death instead! Muhaha!"

All the while, Noa just smiled.

"We're doomed..." wailed Takuto like a banshee.

"Well thanks for stating the obvious!" spat out Lester sarcastically.

"You guys, please..." put in Kuromie trying to pacify the two older members.

The Hell Hounds outside had turned to a board game of Chinese Checkers, while Sherry still babbled on about the greatness of Lord Eonia in the background.

"Geez, does she EVER shut up?" said Riserva under his breath.

"...You have obviously never been near her enough." This came from a bored Camus, in a heavy French accent.

"..." went Red Eye.

"...I don't understand this game..." said Guinness, looking down at the board in confusion.

"I win!" cried Vermouth. "Hmm, maybe we should start betting..."

"Hey," interjected Guinness, bringing out a pack of cards. "How about we play strip poker instead!"

"NO." said the other Hell Hounds simultaneously.

Back in the cage a few feet away...

"We're doooooomed..." wailed Takuto once again. Lester and Kuromie seemed put on edge by this display.

"Doooooomed... Doooooomed...Doo—KAPOW!"

"SHUT UP!" shouted Lester, loosing his nerve, after delivering yet another swift whack to the back of Takuto's head.

"Eh? What's that noise?" asked Kuromie, turning towards one of the exits at the front of the room, though he couldn't really tell if it was the front or not, due to the whole room looking completely symmetrical.

The door was slowly creaking open...

"Lord Eonia?" cried Sherry happily, while the G.A.G. looked with horror towards the opening door.

"Oh shi—oot." said Lester, quickly changing the curse word to a less offensive word when he caught sight of Kuromie's glare.

"We're gonna die!" sobbed Takuto.

The door finally opened all the way. There was a lone figure engulfed in the glare of the light in the background. Then, the figure stepped forward, until...

"You!" half screamed and half yelled Sherry, pointing a finger at the figure. For the figure was...

"Lulu!" cried a surprised Takuto from behind the bars of the cage.

"It's that crazy girl who kidnapped you!" put in Lester.

"...Why is Takuto always getting kidnapped by girls?" asked Kuromie.

"Err..." stammered Takuto.

However, Sherry heard none of this conversation, for she was glaring angrily at Lulu, who had started to speak.

"So, we meet again Lady Sherry." Lulu pronounced the word "Lady" with disgust. "I thought you died."

There was an angry gasp from Sherry, and a low "ooooo" from her Hell Hounds.

"How dare you talk to me like that," started Sherry. "I am a higher ranking official than you!"

"It doesn't matter," said Lulu. "Because Lord Eonia will always favor me more!"

Lulu seemed to have hit a nerve, for in a moment Sherry suddenly became livid with rage.

"I'm his favorite! He doesn't even notice you!" shouted Sherry, pointing accusingly at Lulu, Phoenix Wright style.

"Wha? ...You!"

"And besides, I am the one who truly loves Lord Eonia!"

"Well, I love him more!"

"I love him more than you!"

"I love him way more than YOU!"

"I love him most of all!"

"No, I love him most of all!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

"ME!"

"...This is giving me a headache." said Red Eye, putting a hand over his forehead.

"Right that." said Vermouth.

"Wow, Eonia's a pimp!" said Takuto, and he was swiftly whacked by Lester for it.

"...What's a pimp?" asked Kuromie, innocently.

"I'll tell you when you're older." said Lester.

"O…kay."

Meanwhile, Sherry and Lulu had been reduced to glaring angrily at each other, trying to out-do one another in how loud they could go "grrrr..."

Lester looked from the two glaring women to the Hell Hounds, who had their backs to the G.A.G.

"Hey, I think we might have a chance to escape, if we're quick enough." Said Lester, indicating that the Hell Hounds and Sherry were distracted.

"But how?" whined Takuto, in a …whiney voice.

"Takuto, may I please see your chrono crystal for a moment?" asked Kuromie, holding out a hand.

"Um, sure. I don't see why not…" said Takuto, taking off the triangle shaped crystal from the front of his uniform and putting it in Kuromie's hand.

Kuromie turned the crystal over on its back and inspected it. Then he held it out, took aim at a small rock on the ground, and pressed a button. A red laser beam shot out from the middle of the crystal, and completely vaporized the rock. Takuto and Lester were awestruck. Luckily, the Hell Hounds, Sherry, and Lulu, were still too wrapped up in their situation to take notice at the noise.

"Wowee, that's AWESOME!" cried Takuto.

"Whose bright idea was it to give something that powerful to a guy like Takuto?" asked Lester, though it was more of a statement than a question. "He's the kind of guy who can't even handle NORMAL guns!"

"That doesn't matter now!" said Kuromie, getting straight to business. "What matters now is that we get out of here alive."

"How are we going to do that?" This was asked by Takuto.

"Oh come on, Takuto!" said Kuromie. "You're our commander! You're smarter than that!"

Takuto scratched his head, and closed his eyes in thought.

"Aha!" he cried suddenly, scaring both Kuromie and Lester. Takuto quickly grabbed the crystal out of Kuromie's hand.

"Hey, be careful with that thing…" said Lester, more than a little worried.

Takuto took aim and then used the laser to cut through four of the bars near the top. He did the same near the bottom.

"Ah, I see." Said Lester. You're going to make an opening for escape!"

"Yes, and a ramp too!" Put in Kuromie, clasping his hands.

The G.A.G. quickly and quietly lowered the bars to the ground, and one by one, they got out of the cage. Fortunately for them, their guards were still preoccupied as the two women started arguing again.

"You think you're such an angel, don't you!" came Sherry's sneering voice from a distance. "You think you're such a goodie-two-shoes!"

"Well at least I'm not a suck up." Countered Lulu, an angry tone.

"You… You…" sputtered Sherry.

"Not only that, but you're a jerk! And ugly! And stupid!"

"ARRG! Oh yeah? Well you're a-"

Sherry then proceeded to say a whole string of insults, which were much too offensive for this writer to write down.

"Ouch…" said Takuto from afar. He and the rest of the G.A.G. were quietly sneaking towards the exit at the back of the room (or, so they thought; it was kind of hard to tell.).

"It's got one of those hand scanners on them!" whispered Kuromie, who was the first to get near the door. "How will we get out now?"

"I… Have an idea." Put in Lester suddenly. "I need to borrow your chrono crystal first."

He took the crystal from Takuto and raised it up towards the ceiling.

"When I shoot, prepare to run." Said Lester calmly.

"…Why?" asked Takuto slowly.

Lester aimed at a sprinkler on the ceiling and shot. It quickly exploded and started spewing water. All the other sprinklers that were arranged about the ceiling did the same. At the same time, all the exits opened.

"WHAT THE HECK?(!)" came a shout from a distance. This belonged to an enraged Sherry. "My clothes! They're ruined!"

"Hey, the Galaxy Angel Guys are getting away!" This came from Vermouth, as the Hell Hounds had finally taken notice of their escapees.

"Run, NOW!" shouted Lester, as the G.A.G. quickly ran out the exit.

"After them!" yelled Sherry.

"Yes ma'm!" went the Hell Hounds as the quickly pursued the G.A.G.

"Ha, you can't even keep hold of your prisoners before Lord Eonia gets here!" Said Lulu triumphantly.

Sherry turned angrily on Lulu.

"This is all YOUR fault!"

"What?(!)"

"If you hadn't gone and distracted me, this would never have happened!"

"Well, it's your OWN fault for being distracted!"

"Why you little-"

And this went on again for quite some time, but let's not bore you with the trivial stuff.

"Whatarewegoingtodonow?" asked Takuto, though in his rush of adrenaline, his sentence came out jumbled.

"We run like hell, that's what." Said Lester, in the lead. Kuromie followed closely after, and in the rear was Takuto.

"It's no use to run if we don't know where we're going!" cried Kuromie, trying to be level-headed. "We'll just get lost!"

"Well at least we'll hopefully be able to lose them too." Stated Lester, nodding towards the Hell Hounds behind. Luckily, the G.A.G. had a head start, so the Hell Hounds still had a couple more yards to go before they would catch up.

"Hey guys! I see two paths!" This was said by their heavily panting commander. And indeed there was. One path went left, another to the right.

From a distance, the Hell Hounds saw the Galaxy Angel Guys head left, just as they neared the spot.

"Aha, we've caught them now!" shouted Guinness joyfully.

The Hell Hounds rounded the corner themselves, and then met—not the G.A.G.—but five dark passages.

"…Crap." Went Vermouth. "Now which way did they go?"

"How am I supposed to know?" replied Camus in that same heavy French accent. He seemed annoyed, though that was probably because his hair was disheveled from the sprinklers and the run.

"I guess we have no choice but to split up." Said an equally annoyed Riserva. "Let's hope the G.A.G. did that too. If they did, they'll be easier to catch."

And with that, the Hell Hounds parted ways, each going into a different passageway.

"YOU LOST THEM?"

This came from a furious Eonia. Lady Sherry and Lulu were bowing near Eonia's feet, cowering. Noa was standing near Eonia, shaking her head in disdain.

"We're so sorry Lord Eonia…" came the voices of the two women.

"If it weren't for Lulu…" started Sherry, turning an angry glare at Lulu.

"What?(!)" prickled Lulu. "Accusing me again when it's your own damn fault-"

"ENOUGH!" shouted Eonia, and the two ladies cowered again. "I thought I could count on you Sherry, but I guess I was wrong."

"_Ha_." Whispered Lulu, loud enough for only Sherry to hear. Sherry gave her the evil eye.

"—And you, Lulu." Eonia continued.

"Yes, my lord?" asked Lulu, standing up hopefully, thinking that Sherry might finally be fired.

"How dare you come onto the Black Moon without my permission?"

"W-what?" sputtered Lulu, as a look of shock fell over her face. "B-but, my lord…"

"I specifically told you to gather information, and you disobeyed me!"

"B-but…but!"

"And not only that, but you caused the Galaxy Angel Guys to escape. You've really disappointed me."

Of all the insults Sherry said to Lulu, nothing could match what Eonia said in that single sentence. Lulu was absolutely crushed. She fell to her knees with a dull "thump." Tears fell to the floor. Even Sherry was kind enough not to taunt Lulu. After all, it's not nice to kick a girl when she's down.

Eonia turned his back to the two ladies, and Noa went to him.

"Big brother, dear brother…" started Noa, in that same sickly sweet tone. "I can re-capture the G.A.G. so easily. Why don't you let me do it? And I won't fail so miserably like these two pawns."

Here Sherry and Lulu gave their death glares to Noa, who only stuck out her tongue teasingly at them. If there was only one thing that Sherry and Lulu would ever agree on, it would be their hatred of Noa—and their love for Eonia.

"I'll give you two a chance to make up for this mistake." Said Eonia suddenly, which came as a surprise to all three girls. Noa reacted violently.

"What?(!)" cried Noa angrily. "Why are you giving them another chance when you know that they'll just fail?(!)"

"I believe in them." Stated Eonia. "And you've created enough of a mess yourself, Noa. You should go clean up your room."

Noa was shocked at this comment. Meanwhile, Sherry and Lulu quickly stood up, and saluted.

"We won't let you down Lord Eonia!" said Sherry and Lulu together.

Noa just gave a loud "hmph!" and ran back towards her room.

As this was all happening, Camus, the Hell Hound leader, was currently wandering down the dark passageway alone. He had taken the middle passage.

"This dankness can not be good for my hair!" said Camus out loud.

Suddenly, there was a loud battle cry, and Camus was immediately on the floor and tied up faster than you can say "."

"Ha, looks like you're all tied up now, Camus!" This comment came from none other than Commander Takuto.

"Wandering around here without a weapon, we were really lucky." This comment came from none other than Space Whale-Keeper Kuromie.

"That was easier than I thought. Good thing he's such a pansy." And this, of course, came from none other than Vice-Commander Lester.

"I am not a pansy!" cried Camus angrily, but since he had rope binded around his mouth, it sounded more like, "Um mm mm mamsee!" Lester rolled his one eye and quickly removed the rope around Camus's mouth.

"Alright," started Lester. "Tell us how to get back to the landing dock, and we won't hurt you."

"Never!" was Camus's reply.

"Guess we have no choice but to torture it out of him…" said Takuto, scratching his head.

"W-wait, torture?" stuttered Camus.

"Yup, if you won't tell us where the landing site is…" started Takuto, grinning. "We'll have no choice but to burn your hair!"

"…One inch at a time." Finished Lester, also grinning.

Camus looked horror-struck.

"I don't think it was very nice to leave him tied up like that…" said Kuromie, as the G.A.G. resumed their running, now towards the landing dock and escape.

"Well, would you rather face the wrath of Eonia?" asked Lester, in the lead once again. "After all, they're the enemies; we can't do anything about that. At least we didn't burn his hair, since he cracked after we threatened him."

"Still…" said Kuromie, frowning. "If only we had met on better terms…"

"Look, that's our space pod!" shouted Takuto, pointing towards it. They were currently in the landing dock, approaching the pod, when suddenly…

"Stop right there!"

The G.A.G. gasped, for standing right in their way was Sherry and Lulu. Sherry was wielding a whip, and Lulu held throwing knives in her hands.

"So close…" wailed Takuto, as he and the other two members backed away slowly.

"I knew the Hell Hounds couldn't be trusted." Said Sherry.

"Yeah, but WE won't let you escape twice!" said Lulu.

"Wow, they're actually working together." Noted Kuromie. Takuto and Lester exchanged glances. Kuromie's observation gave them an idea.

"Sherry would OBVIOUSLY be Eonia's favorite." Lester started suddenly. Sherry, Lulu, and Kuromie were taken aback.

"Lester, what-?" asked Kuromie, but Takuto butted in.

"No way! I believe that Lulu is Eonia's favorite!"

Kuromie then understood what the two older members were up to. He smiled and let Takuto and Lester continue their act.

"Sherry's sexier," said Lester, resisting the urge to gag, since he would never say something like that aloud, even if it about someone he liked. "And she's also older. I've heard that Eonia likes older women."

"Yeah, but Lulu's cuter. And daintier." This was said by Takuto, but unlike Lester, he actually meant it.

Sherry and Lulu still looked on, speechless.

"Are they actually fighting…about us?" asked Lulu.

"That vice-commander's right, though." Said Sherry smugly. "I am sexier."

"That isn't enough to make you Eonia's favorite." Said Lulu hotly, turning to glare at Sherry. "As Takuto said, I'm much cuter."

"It doesn't matter; I'M Lord Eonia's favorite!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

"ME!"

"It's working!" whispered Kuromie to the two older members, who had stopped their skit to watch the two women argue.

"Now's our chance!" said Lester. "Run for it!"

Sherry and Lulu had now started fighting each other with their weapons.

"I'll always be his favorite!" huffed Sherry, swinging her whip like a mad woman. "Lord Eonia tells me EVERYTHING!"

"Well I get the secret missions and stuff!" huffed Lulu, dodging Sherry's attacks and countering with thrown knives. "Bet you didn't know THAT!"

"The G.A.G. are getting away!" This was said by a heavily panting Vermouth. The Hell Hounds had re-grouped by now (including a freed Camus) and were running towards the two fighting women. The comment was enough to bring Sherry and Lulu out of their fighting trance and they turned to look at the space pod in horror. Sure enough, the G.A.G. were going inside it.

"So it was all a trick to distract us!" cried Sherry, as realization finally hit.

"Just so you know," started Lester. "You aren't really my type, Sherry."

"But you can go out with me anytime!" said Takuto, and this was, of course, aimed at Lulu.

"I hate you and I never want to see you again!" was Lulu's angry reply.

Lester rolled his one eye again and quickly pulled Takuto by the ear into the pod. Kuromie was already inside, having a happy reunion with his space whale calf.

"Let's go!" said Lester, pushing buttons.

The space pod slowly drew away from the dock.

"Someone, please, stop them!" cried a frantic Sherry, but it was no use. The G.A.G. space pod had already gone into space and flown away. Lulu crumpled to the floor. The Hell Hounds looked on with a sinking feeling in their stomach.

"That's bad…right?" asked Guinness, hesitantly.

"Aw darn," started Lester, who was driving the pod back towards the G.A.G. base. "We were supposed to gather information about Eonia's plans, but we were too busy escaping!"

"I guess we'll just have to tell General Luft that we failed this one…" said Kuromie sadly, sitting in one of the pod's chairs, with Space Whale Jr. in his lap.

"Not quite."

Lester and Kuromie turned to their smiling commander, who was holding a disk he had swiped from Noa's room. Their faces soon lit up with smiles too.

"Ugh…" went Sherry. She, Lulu, and the Hell Hounds were currently cleaning the docks. That was their punishment (declared by Eonia) for letting the Galaxy Angel Guys escape (again).

"Well, this isn't so bad…" said Vermouth, trying to lighten the situation. "At least we didn't have to scrub the toilets…"

"Don't jinx it!" Was the reply of the other Hell Hound members.

"This is all your fault!" cried Sherry, throwing down the sponge with which she had been scrubbing the floor. It splashed into the bucket of water near her, creating an even bigger mess. Sherry pointed accusingly at Lulu. "Because of you, I got distracted! We never should have worked together!"

"Like I had a choice!" countered Lulu, wielding the mop she was using like a sword.

Sherry and Lulu then began a full on fight, with slapping and hair-pulling. The Hell Hounds just looked on, mouths open.

"Whoo, cat fight." Said Vermouth, sniggering.

"At least we get some entertainment." Put in Guinness happily.

"I wonder if their clothes will get ripped off…" said Camus, grinning.

"You guys are such perverts…" stated Riserva, rolling his eyes.

"…" went Red Eye.

**END!**

(Yes, I finally went on and finished this two-part story. A four-part story is coming up next!)

Additional notes: Okay, here's how I came up with this chapter, in case you're wondering.

In my imagination:

Sherry: I love Eonia!

Lulu: Well I love Eonia more!

(Insert chibi fight here)

Yeah...

Anyway, I hope the language didn't offend anyone. I noticed there was a lot more cursing in this chapter than the previous ones.

**Character bio time!**

Lulu (last name unknown): (Poor Lulu, she's so minor, the producers don't even have a character bio for her! Manga only character.)

Gender: Female

Age: I'm pretty sure she's only 17 or 18. She could also be 16 too, but I think that's pushing it a bit.

Height: At least a head shorter than Takuto. I think she's around Milfie's height, which would be about 5'1''

Job: She does missions for Eonia. That's all I know. She used to be under Sherry's orders, but now works on her own.

Looks: She has white shoulder-length hair, wears a white frilly dress, and has glasses.

Personality: She's obsessed with Eonia (much like Sherry is). However, she's much more of a crybaby, and less experienced than Sherry is at her job. She's a bit flirtatious too…

My Opinion: Although I don't like Lulu much as a character, I do like her as a villain. She had so much potential. Sadly, she only appeared in GA vol. two. I was hoping she'd make a come-back later, but I guess Kanan didn't find time to put her in. Oh well… I gave her knives to throw because I thought that would be kind of cool, even if it is a bit out of character for her…

**See you next time!**


	15. Ep 15, The GAG's Day Off

**Legal Stuff:** Yadda, yadda, don't own Galaxy Angel, yadda, yadda.

**The G.A.G.'s Day Off**

The G.A.G. had finally finished their hardest mission yet, and they returned happily to the base. When they did, however, they met a few surprises…

"Welcome back!" This was said by Luft, who had been waiting at the Galaxy Angel Guys base for his team to return.

"Hiya!" said Creta, who also happened to be there.

"Professor Luft! Creta!" said Takuto, surprised, as were his other teammates. "What brings you guys here?"

"We just wanted to welcome you all back, is all." Said Luft, smiling.

"I also came here to tell you guys about the renovations done to the base!" said Creta.

"Renovations?" asked Kuromie, who was holding Space Whale Jr. "But I thought the G.A.G. base was already in good condition…"

"Oh don't worry," continued Creta, laughing. "There was nothing wrong with the base, we just added some new rooms for you guys! We've added bedrooms for all of you, and also a small gym, a storage room, and a greenhouse!"

"That's great!" said Takuto, happily. "It'd be nice to have our own rooms again, like on the Elle Ciel."

"Well, I'm just happy that I don't have to put up with Takuto's snoring anymore." Said Lester.

"…I snore?" asked Takuto, surprised.

"…Yeah," put in Kuromie, hesitantly. "Really loudly."

"Is that so…" said Takuto, sweatdropping.

"Ahem, the disk?" added in Luft after a moment's silence.

"Oh! Yes, here it is." Said Takuto, handing it over to Luft.

"Thank you all. This will be of great help in finally defeating Eonia." With that, Luft put the disk in his coat pocket. "Well, we should get going." Luft walked towards the door, Creta following behind.

"Bye guys!" said Creta, as Luft held the door open for her. "It was nice meeting you guys again!"

"Oh yes," started Luft, as Creta disappeared outside. "You guys have just reached the 50 million mark in paying off your debt! Congratulations!"

"Really?" asked Kuromie, surprised. "Wow, we're already half-way there!"

"That's still a lot of money to pay off…" mumbled Lester.

"Let's celebrate!" said Takuto.

Luft laughed. "Well, as a reward," he continued. "I'll give you guys a break from the missions for a while."

"Define, 'a while'." Said Lester, but Luft was already out the door.

"Well, hey, we have some free time now!" said Takuto, excitedly.

And so, after the Galaxy Angel Guys had finished exploring their new rooms, and had cleaned up the base a bit, they eventually decided (after much urging from Takuto), to hold a small party.

"A toast," started Takuto, raising a bottle of 25 cent soda. The other members also held up their own bottles. "A toast to all of our hard work, our friendship, and having survived the wrath of Eonia and the Hell Hounds!"

"Well, I think it's an accomplishment that we survived AT ALL." Said Lester.

"Right that!" put in Kuromie happily. Space Whale Jr. was drinking his soda from a small dish that Kuromie had set up.

"Cheers!" went all the members of the Galaxy Angel Guys, and then they all took a drink from their bottles.

"Sooo, what do we do now?" asked Takuto, after draining his bottle.

The G.A.G. sat in silence for awhile, all in thought. Takuto broke the silence suddenly.

"Wait, I know! Let's all tell stories!"

"About what?" asked Kuromie.

"Well, it can be about anything, I guess…"

"You know, I've always wondered how you got the job on the Elle Ciel." Put in Lester. This was said to Kuromie.

"Yeah, and how you met Space Whale Jr!" added Takuto quickly.

Kuromie blushed slightly. "Do you guys really want to know that stuff?" He asked.

"Yeah!" said Takuto.

"Of course." Said Lester, in a much calmer manner.

"Well, alright, I guess I'll start from the very beginning then…" said Kuromie, as his story began.

**To be continued…**

Yeah, this chapter was pretty short, but it was always meant to be a transition chapter anyway, so that's alright. I've always wanted to write about Takuto's, Lester's, and Kuromie's past. I've had it planned out since I started this fanfic. Well, now I can finally put it in. Yay! Hope you enjoy the next three chapters!

**Updated Final Notes:**

I "added" more rooms to the G.A.G. base here. Sadly, they never got a chance to be used. You can probably tell that I was planning to keep this fanfic running longer than what it is now. Oh well.


	16. Ep 16, My One True Friend

**Legal Stuff:** I don't own Galaxy Angel. End of story.

**Notes:** In this chapter, "Space Whale" will refer to the large one that Kuromie communicates with to know people's emotions. "Space Whale Jr." will refer to the space whale calf that Kuromie raises. Just wanted to clear that up beforehand.

**My One True Friend**

**(Kuromie Special!)**

(Kuromie):_ I guess I should start at the beginning, huh?_

_Well, I'll start with the time I first found out about my powers… Ten years ago…_

"Kuromie! Come here!"

This was said by a young dark haired woman with bright green eyes. She was in her mid-20s. She was also in a simple light purple dress complete with an apron. She had her hands on her hips and was staring at a young brown-haired boy with light blue eyes. He was wearing a dusty blue t-shirt and black shorts. He seemed about five.

"Kuromie!" she said again, louder this time. "It's dangerous for you to be off wandering on your own!"

"I'm sorry Ms. Suzuki." Said the five-year-old Kuromie.

_Back then, I was an orphan. I used to live at the Woodland Orphanage Center on planet Forestia. I was told that when I was a baby, I was simply left on the doorstep of the Orphanage one day. I didn't really mind as I had a really nice caretaker. Her name was Ms. Suzuki._

"It's time for lunch!" said Ms. Suzuki, rounding the young Kuromie into a large white building. Surrounding the building was a lush green forest that Kuromie had been playing in when Ms. Suzuki called him in.

"Do you want to know what I found out in the forest today, Ms. Suzuki?" said Kuromie happily, holding something in his closed small fist.

Ms. Suzuki laughed and replied, "Sure. I would love to know."

"Guess first!"

"Hmm, let me guess…" said Ms. Suzuki, pretending to be thinking really hard. "Hmm, I don't know, maybe a…leaf?"

"No!"

"A bug?"

"Nope!"

"How about a twig?"

"Nope!" Kuromie could barely hold his excitement in.

Ms. Suzuki pretended to be thinking some more, and then finally said, "How about a rock then?"

"Yup, that's right!" said Kuromie, opening his hand and shoving the rock into Ms. Suzuki's hand. "I found it by the stream. It's a really pretty, shiny rock isn't it?" He smiled. Ms. Suzuki looked at the rock. It was a beautiful milky color.

"Of course it is." Said Ms. Suzuki, smiling back. "Let's add it to your collection after lunch, alright? You can show it to all the other children too. Let's get you cleaned up."

With that, the two went deeper into the white building.

_I loved Ms. Suzuki. In a way, she was like a mother to me. She had raised me since I was a baby. We also looked quite alike too. Many times when we went walking outside, people would stop and ask Ms. Suzuki, "Are you sure that's not your kid?"_

_Anyway, we had lots of fun together. She always took care of me when I got hurt, and put me to bed every night. She also made sure that I was well-educated. Her only wish for me was that I would be adopted by a loving family and that I could have a great future. Secretly, though, I wished that I would never be adopted, since I wanted to stay with Ms. Suzuki forever._

_But, in my heart, I knew it would not last…_

"Look at this rock that I got!" said Kuromie, showing the newly found rock to a small crowd of kids. They were in the cafeteria, and it was still lunch time.

"That's really pretty!" squealed one young girl.

"That's awesome!" shouted an older boy.

There were more "oohs" and "ahs" before Ms. Suzuki finally approached the little group.

"Alright, guys," started she, cheerfully. "It's time to clean up. Lunch time's over!"

There was a moan of "aww" throughout the whole group, who quickly disbanded to help clean and put away the dishes. After this was done, Ms. Suzuki gathered the kids together once again.

"Today's a special day! Do you know what day it is?" said Ms. Suzuki to the group of children.

They all shook their heads.

"Today, we get to go on a field trip aboard the Elle Ciel!"

There was a burst of "Yay!" throughout the small crowd, and it took a long time before Ms. Suzuki finally restored order again.

"Alright, alright guys, clam down. Now, please get into two single file lines and follow me!"

The children at the orphanage were used to this, and they quickly formed the two lines. Since there were an odd number of children, Kuromie had to stay up at the front next to Ms. Suzuki. She led the way out of the building and into the forest.

"It's just a little ways in here." Said she, to the kids following behind her. "General Luft, the commander of the Elle Ciel, has been nice enough to bring the ship here to allow all the people of Forestia a public viewing. We should all be thankful for this chance, since the Elle Ciel only gives public viewings once every ten years."

As Ms. Suzuki said this, a large towering ship began to appear in the distance. The closer the group got to the ship, the bigger it became, until finally…

"We're here!" said Ms. Suzuki, showing the children the large entranceway to the Elle Ciel.

The children stared in awe, including young Kuromie.

"Well, let's go inside!"

The group was finally inside the grand ceremonial ship, with Ms. Suzuki in the lead. All the children were awed at what they saw. Beautifully decorated rooms, large halls, many shops and markets, and that was only the tip of the iceberg! The group had currently stopped to look around in a large dining hall, and Ms. Suzuki was trying her best to keep order, as the children had started playing and chasing one another.

"P-Please stay in your lines! And don't touch anything! Please!"

This was said by a frazzled Ms. Suzuki. Kuromie, meanwhile, just stayed near Ms. Suzuki's side. That is, until he heard a peculiar sound.

"…ome…me…"

"What?" said Kuromie out loud. He looked around, looking for the source of the sound. None of the others, including Ms. Suzuki, seemed to have noticed it. Kuromie quietly saddled out the dining hall into the main hall. It was a large and winding passageway with many paths, but the voice seemed clearer out here. He followed it. Sure enough, it was getting louder too.

"Come to me…"

That was what the voice said. Kuromie wondered who it could be. The oddest part about it was that no one else seemed to hear. Kuromie passed many people on his way to the source of the voice, but no one else seemed to notice. He ran towards the voice now. After going through a few more passages, he finally came to a door marked, "Whale Room."

"Oh my goodness," cried Ms. Suzuki after rounding up and counting the children. "Kuromie's missing!" She nearly fainted, but held herself together as best she could. The children, sensing something was wrong, exchanged nervous glances to one another.

"What's wrong?"

Ms. Suzuki looked up, and saw a young woman, even younger than herself. The woman was wearing a nurse's outfit, and had her hair tied in a high pony tail. She had light purple-ish, blue-ish hair, and had lavender eyes.

"May I help you?" asked the young nurse. "My name is Kela. I'm the nurse here. You look like you're about to faint."

"I've lost one of the children!" cried Ms. Suzuki, on the verge of tears.

"Oh, that's horrible! Can I help in any way?" asked Kela, full of concern.

"I'll have to find him, but I can't leave the children all alone here…"

"I'll watch over them." Offered young Kela. "That way, you can go find the lost child."

"Oh thank you!" sobbed Ms. Suzuki, who hugged Kela tightly and then ran off to find Kuromie.

Meanwhile, Kuromie had opened the door marked "Whale Room" and had entered it. He was enthralled at what he saw. It revealed a beach, and a very lovely one at that. There was soft white sand and tropical looking trees and shrubs scattered about. But the best part was the sea itself. The waters were a beautiful blue color, and it was crystal clear.

Kuromie had never in his life seen such a large body of water in one place. He stood transfixed for a moment, wondering if this was all just a hologram. He had heard about holograms, and that they were usually used on large ships to create realistic backgrounds. But this looked and felt so real… It couldn't be a hologram, could it?

Kuromie took a few hesitant steps onto the sand. He then knelt down and felt it. It was real. In his delight, he grabbed up handfuls of sand and let it run through his fingers. When he had had enough, he slowly made his way down to the ocean, to see if it was real too.

As this was all going on, Kuromie's caretaker, Ms. Suzuki, was frantically trying to find the young Kuromie. She had been running in and out of different rooms, and down different halls, until she was nearly lost. (After all, the Elle Ciel is a big place.)

Ms. Suzuki sat down near a wall and cried.

"Kuromie, where are you?" she said through sobs. A large shadow fell over her.

"Is something the matter, young lady?"

Ms. Suzuki looked up into the kind face of General Luft.

"Oh!" she gasped and stood up quickly. "General Luft! I'm sorry if I'm in your way or anything-"

Luft laughed.

"Oh no, don't worry." Said Luft, trying to calm down Ms. Suzuki. "I was just taking my daily stroll. You, however, seem to be looking for something. Can I help in any way?"

"I-I've lost one of my children." Stammered Ms. Suzuki, who then quickly corrected herself. "Well, he's not MINE exactly, but he's a child I care for at the local orphanage center."

"I see."

"I've been looking for him everywhere, but now I've just gotten myself lost."

"Do you have any idea where he might have gone?"

"No, not a clue. Kuromie—that's the boy I'm looking for—is only five years old, and this is first time aboard this ship. Unfortunately, this has also been my first time on this ship, so I don't know where he could have gone, or where anything is at all!"

Here Ms. Suzuki broke into sobs once again. Luft comforted her by giving her a handkerchief.

"Now, now, crying won't find the boy any sooner." Said Luft to Ms. Suzuki.

"But how will I ever find him?(!)" sobbed Ms. Suzuki.

"Don't worry, dear. You forget; I AM the captain of this ship after all. I'll send out a message via the chrono crystal about the missing boy. You said his name was Kuromie, yes? Don't worry, we'll find the boy in no time-"

But here, Luft was interrupted by a message coming from the chrono crystal on the front of his uniform. It was triangle-shaped, just like Takuto's.

"Sir, there's an unidentified person in the beach area. It seems to be a five year old child-"

"Oh my gods!" Half-screamed, half-gasped Ms. Suzuki. "That's Kuromie!"

"Well then," said Luft. "I'll take you to the beach area. It's not too far from here."

Kuromie approached the ocean cautiously. He didn't know how to swim, and even in his young age, he knew that such a large ocean would be dangerous to him. He neared the water, just as a wave came up. Kuromie screamed and ran back up to higher ground. The wave receded, leaving a dark spot on the sand.

Kuromie watched the waves for some time, and finally scraped up enough courage to have another go. He slowly went down, as a wave came up. This time, he didn't run, but let the waves wash over his shoes and ankles. He flinched as the cold water touched him, but he soon overcame his fear of the water. He took off his shoes and socks, and began to run about with the waves. Suddenly, he heard the same voice, but it was saying something else this time.

"Can you hear me?" was what it said, loud and clear as day.

"Yes," Kuromie answered back. "I can hear you very well here. Where you the one that called me?"

"Yes." Said the voice.

"Well then, who are you? Where are you? And what do you look like?"

"Do you want to know?"

"Yes!" shouted Kuromie excitedly.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound of waves parting, and a large grey-ish spot began to appear, rising above the water. At first, Kuromie thought it was an island, but as the thing rose higher above the water, Kuromie realized what it was. There was a shrill scream.

"Kuromie!" cried Ms. Suzuki, as she and Luft appeared in the doorway of the Whale Room. "Get away from that Space Whale!"

Ms. Suzuki was about to run to Kuromie and pull him away, but Luft stopped her with his arm.

"What are you doing?(!)" screamed Ms. Suzuki, forgetting her manners for the time being (and you must understand, for she was in quite a panic). "He'll be crushed!"

"I don't think the boy will be crushed." Said Luft calmly. "Look."

Ms. Suzuki stared at Kuromie. The large whale seemed to have stopped right in front of Kuromie. Then Kuromie began talking to it.

"Oh, so you're a Space Whale!" exclaimed Kuromie happily. "I've never seen a Space Whale up and close before! I've only seen them in the picture books Ms. Suzuki reads to me."

The Whale made some high pitched squeaking noises, as if in agreement.

"Wow, you're so big! My name's Kuromie. What's your name?"

The whale made more squeaking noises.

"Ah, so it's just Space Whale, then? Are you a boy or a girl?"

More squeaks.

"Ah, so you're a girl. Are you a mother?"

Ms. Suzuki was in a state of shock.

"No, it couldn't be…" she thought. "Is Kuromie…Is he actually TALKING to the whale?"

Ms. Suzuki took a sideways glance at Luft. He too seemed surprised.

After a few more minutes, all of the children that Ms. Suzuki was looking after had been rounded up into Luft's spacious office. Kela was also there, handing out snacks and drinks to the children. Meanwhile, Luft was sitting at his desk, with Ms. Suzuki facing him. There was tea on the table. Kuromie was standing at the large glass window that faced the ocean. He was looking out of it.

"Well," said Luft, after some time. "Kuromie is a very special boy. Being able to communicate with the Space Whales is a very rare gift. Only 1 in 10,000 people get it, and even then, they might not even realize they have the gift. We were really lucky to get one so young."

Ms. Suzuki was silent.

"I've decided," started Luft again, after seeing that Ms. Suzuki didn't have anything to add. "I've decided that Kuromie should undergo special training to enhance his abilities. He can become a grand whale caretaker. And I have a good home for him on planet Lome while he trains. He'll have the best education money can buy."

Ms. Suzuki began sniffing.

"I know this is hard on you." Luft continued. "I understand if you don't want to let him go-"

"No." spoke up Ms. Suzuki for the first time. "I want him to go. It's just so… so…" Here she had to stop to wipe away tears. "When is the soonest that he can go off to train?"

"Well, I can get him there tonight, if you want." Said Luft. "But we must ask him. It's his decision too. I don't want to trick him." He turned to Kuromie. "Young boy, would you like to come with me to train as a space whale caretaker? You'll be able to meet and take care of many other creatures besides."

"Oh really?(!)" asked Kuromie excitedly, turning from the window. "That would be great! Is Ms. Suzuki coming?"

Ms. Suzuki's face fell.

"No, Kuromie, I'm not coming." she said, after a long silence.

"But why?" asked Kuromie, who started to frown a little.

"I can't come, Kuromie. I have to take care of all the other children. I hope you'll understand."

"But, we'll be able to see each other again, right?"

Ms. Suzuki paused again, and then said, "Of course."

"Are you sure you really want to do this Kuromie?" asked Luft. "You can't change your mind when you get to planet Lome."

Kuromie fell silent for a while, and then said, "Yes, I want to come. Space Whale said that she's really lonely. She needs a friend to take care of her."

Here, Ms. Suzuki broke into sobs. Kuromie rushed to her in worry.

"Oh, don't worry." Said Ms. Suzuki, hugging Kuromie tightly. "I'm just so happy that you'll finally get a good home and future. Please be good. Good bye, dear."

"Goodbye Ms. Suzuki…" said Kuromie softly, returning the hug, and then running to where Luft was standing at an elevator.

"Don't worry about your stuff, my boy." Said Luft, pressing the elevator door open. "The orphanage center will send it up to your place later." He and Kuromie got into the elevator. Luft pressed another button.

"I'll see you again someday!" shouted Kuromie as the elevator door closed on an image of a sadly smiling Ms. Suzuki.

_But somehow, I knew I might never see Ms. Suzuki again._

_I stayed on planet Lome for five years for my training. During my stay, I studied zoology mostly, but I also took up botany. I lived with a very nice family, who gave me a place to stay during my training. I also trained to home my skills, and it was there that I discovered that Space Whales could read a person's emotions._

_Despite the hard work, it was a very enjoyable experience, and the years passed by quickly. I didn't even miss Ms. Suzuki at that time, at least, not until I finished my training…_

"Good to see you on the Elle Ciel again, my boy!" said Luft happily, to the now ten year old Kuromie. "I'm surprised you finished your training so quickly. Do you think you're ready to start taking care of the plants and animals on the Elle Ciel on your own?"

"I'll try." Kuromie replied. He was now in the familiar green and white uniform, complete with the poofy beret.

"That's always good to hear." Said Luft, laughing as the two walked down the hallway together. "By the way, you still need a last name, yes?"

"Yes."

"Still haven't found your family, hmm?"

Kuromie stayed silent.

"How about Quark?" suggested Luft.

"What?(!)" exclaimed Kuromie. "That just sounds weird!"

"But it has a rather nice ring to it, yes? Kuromie Quark."

Kuromie became silent for while more and then finally said, "Alright."

"So it's settled then!" said Luft, happily. "Your name shall now be Kuromie Quark!"

_And that was how I got my last name. Yes, I'm telling the truth. _

_Takuto and Lester, you two can stop staring at me like that now._

_ANYWAY, I started my job at the Elle Ciel right away. It was then that I started missing Ms. Suzuki. I had to work all alone, and while it was fun to work with all the animals, it just wasn't the same as having human friends. Unfortunately, everyone on the Elle Ciel was much older than I was, and I, being a ten year old at the time, had trouble fitting in._

_I tried contacting the Woodland Orphanage Center in hopes of talking to Ms. Suzuki again, but I found that she had recently married and moved away to an unknown place. I was crushed._

_Space Whale could sense my sadness and she tried to cheer me up. I think Luft could sense it too. Three more years passed, until finally, THAT day came…_

"Yes, General Luft?" asked a thirteen year old Kuromie. He was standing in front of Luft's desk in his office.

"Here, a package for you, Kuromie!" said Luft, shoving a rather large package into Kuromie's arms. Kuromie staggered under the weight.

"What's in here?"

"Open it up and find out!"

Kuromie did just that. He gasped at what he saw. It was a beautiful white Space Whale egg, about the size of a beach ball.

"A Space Whale egg?(!)" cried Kuromie. "Do you know how rare those are?(!)"

Luft nodded.

"Of course I do! That's why I got it for your 13th birthday! Well, it's a little late, but…"

"Oh thank you General Luft!" shouted Kuromie, overjoyed. "I'll take good care of it, you'll see! You'll be the first to see it after it's hatched!"

"I hope so." Said Luft, smiling, as Kuromie quickly ran out of the office, carrying the egg in his arms.

_That egg eased my pain, if only a little. I took care of it like it was my own child. Unfortunately, there was also another who wanted it…_

"Good night!" said Kuromie, patting the egg, which was sitting in an incubator in the midst of the Whale room.

He then turned towards the exit to turn off the lights and go to bed, but then he heard a "swishing" sound and quickly looked back. The egg was gone!

"What?(!)" cried Kuromie, in shock. He noticed a dark hooded figure running towards the hanger where the smaller space pods were kept.

"Come back here!" he cried, chasing after the figure.

The figure, however—being much taller than Kuromie, and having longer legs—was able to run much faster, and had a head start also. Kuromie tripped and fell over, just as the figure started to get on one of the smaller ships.

"Please!" he started sobbing. "Please don't take away my friend! My one true friend! I loved that egg as if it were my own child!"

Kuromie sobbed some more, his face held in his arms. Not hearing the sound of a ship speeding away, he looked up and saw that the hooded figure was now staring at him. It was still holding the egg. The figure looked from Kuromie to the egg, then back to Kuromie again. Then it let out a long sigh.

"I'm getting too nice nowadays…" came a female voice from the hooded figure, who was stepping down from the ship and walking up to Kuromie. "Here. Take it." Said the girl, handing Kuromie the egg and pulling down her hood. "I don't want your stupid egg anymore. Happy now?"

"Oh thank you!" Kuromie sobbed gratefully, hugging the egg to his chest. The girl, who had dark hair and bright green eyes, shuddered. She seemed about 16.

"No thanks needed." Said she simply. "And will you please STOP crying?(!) Goddesses, you're a boy, aren't you?"

Kuromie quickly wiped his tears away.

"How can I ever thank you?" he asked the girl.

"Just don't tell anyone that this incident ever happened, alright?" answered the girl. "Let's just say I'm a pretty infamous thief around here, and have a rep to keep… Well, I should get going now-"

"Uwah, the egg's cracking!" cried Kuromie.

"What?(!)" cried the girl, worried. "I didn't break it, I swear!"

Kuromie laughed.

"No, no, it's nothing bad." Said he. "It's just that the Space Whale—it's hatching."

The two stood transfixed as more cracks appeared on the egg. Kuromie laid it on the ground. The egg shook wildly, and finally, with an earsplitting cracking sound, it broke to pieces, revealing a small Space Whale calf.

"Mew!" said the Space Whale calf.

"Aww!" exclaimed the girl. "It's so cute!"

"I think I'll call him Space Whale Jr." said Kuromie, picking up the whale calf.

The girl smiled. Kuromie stared at her.

"Hey, what are you staring for?" asked the girl angrily as she blushed a bright red. "I may be pretty, but don't say that you've fallen in love with me already!"

"No, that's not it." Said Kuromie, laughing. "It's just… It's just that you look a lot like Ms. Suzuki."

"…Who's Ms. Suzuki?" asked the girl, puzzled.

"Oh, it's just someone who I used to know." Replied Kuromie, smiling.

_Like I promised, I let her go without telling anyone. But, unbeknownst to her, her appearance that night gave me hope. She reminded me of my old friend Ms. Suzuki. For although Ms. Suzuki wasn't with me anymore, she'll always remain in my heart. And with Space Whale Jr. to take care of, I didn't feel so lonely anymore._

"And that, guys, is my story." Finished Kuromie. The two older G.A.G. members stared at him in awe.

"Wow, that was really…something." Said Takuto, scratching his head. Lester chose to remain speechless.

"So did you ever meet Ms. Suzuki again?" continued Takuto.

"Nope, I still haven't been able to locate her, but that's alright." This was said by Kuromie. Space Whale Jr. was floating nearby, mewing happily. "Anyway, Takuto, it's your turn!"

"Me?(!)" Burst out Takuto.

"Yes, and tell us all about your childhood too!" said Kuromie, smiling.

Lester just nodded in agreement.

"Well, I guess I have no choice, do I?" said Takuto, giving in. "Well, here goes…"

**To Be Continued!**

**Notes:** Phew, that story was hard to write! Kind of a sad chapter, which is hard for me. (I'm much better at doing comedic/humorous pieces…) I truthfully have no idea if Kuromie's really an orphan or not, since there's absolutely NO mention of his past in the manga. Not sure about the games, though. If Kuromie really does have a family in reality, then I'm really, really sorry for screwing it up!

Oh yeah, Forestia is a planet I made up. Lome, however, is an actual planet in the GA universe that I took from manga volume 4. I think I MIGHT bring back the thief girl if anyone wants me too.

Anyway, next up is Takuto's chapter. Oh yeah, and here's the character bio.

**Character Bio:**

Kela (Last name unknown)

Gender: Female

Age: 29

Height: I have no idea. I think she may be taller than Takuto, though. Not sure…

Job: She's the nurse on the Elle Ciel.

Looks: She has light purple-ish, blue-ish hair that is tied up in a bun. She also has light purple eyes and usually wears a skirt with a medical coat and headband. She also has a beauty mark under lip.

Personality: Unfortunately, she didn't show up much in the manga, so she didn't really get a chance to show too much of her personality. However, I do know that she's very smart and knowledgeable, especially in her field. She's also a nice, caring person.

My Opinion: Although she's not my favorite character, I still wished that she had a chance to appear a bit more in the manga. She's friends with Vanilla in the games and manga, but I made her friends with Kuromie in the G.A.G. universe too. It works out easier that way… I'll try to bring in Kela more often in later chapters, but she's a bit harder to bring in than Creta is. (Since Creat is a mechanic, and all.)

**See you next time!**

**Updated Final Notes:**

Looking back at this chapter now, the biggest thing I can find wrong with it is that WHALES ARE MAMMALS AND SHOULDN'T HATCH FROM EGGS. I don't know what I was thinking back then… Maybe I thought including live-birth in a story would be too squicky or something. Oh well.


	17. Ep 17, So You Wanna Be A Space Commander

**Legal Stuff:** I don't own Galaxy Angel. Period.

**Notes:** I've been re-reading the reviews that have been posted for my fanfic, and I noticed that the earlier ones ask about Takuto's name. Most of you probably wondered why the English translation of the manga changes Tact's name to Takuto. I've researched that about a year ago, and found that Tact is in fact the official spelling of his name. However, the Japanese pronounce it as Takuto. (If you've heard voice clips from the GA games, you'll see what I mean.) So I guess that's the reason why the translators at Broccoli translated his name that way. I think it's also so that English fans would be able to pronounce his name correctly.

Similarly, Lester's name spelled officially is actually "Rester," but the "R" is pronounced more like an "L", so the translators translated it that way. Either way, I've grown used to calling Tact, "Takuto" and calling Rester, "Lester," so I think I'll keep it that way. Sorry to anyone who might be annoyed by this…

Oh yeah, and please take time to review my story, even if it is a critique or comment. Your comments are what keep me updating! On with the story!

**So, You Wanna Be a Space Commander?**

**(Takuto Special!)**

(Takuto): _For the most part of my childhood, I stayed on my Grandparent's farm. I loved it there. Now, you might think that an old country farm is a boring place, but it wasn't, at least not to me. There were always new things to do and discover. Unfortunately, I was kind of a loner back then…_

"Ha, ha!"

A bunch of large boys were standing around a huddling, smaller boy. They were inside a large, red barn with hay littering the ground, and the larger boys were all laughing and pointing at the smaller boy, taunting him and teasing him. The oldest and largest of the standing boys seemed to be the ringleader. He started talking.

"Hey, down so soon? Get up!"

"N-no!" said the huddling boy, who had bluish-black hair.

"Get up or I'll make you!" said the oldest boy, picking up the younger boy by the scuff of his collar, hoisting him up in the air. The younger boy struggled and kicked weakly, though this only elicited more laughs from the other boys, who started teasing him some more.

"You're such a weakling!"

"You'll never have any friends if you keep acting like that!"

"You're not worth anything."

"You're a nobody, Takuto."

The oldest boy finally dropped Takuto hard on the ground. The game had lost it fun.

"Let's torment him some other time." Said the oldest boy, as he and the others marched out of the barn to find some other defenseless prey. After a while, Takuto finally got up, slowly and painfully, tears stinging the corner of his eyes.

…_Of course, not all of it was fun. Being the smallest of the boys, I was constantly picked on. The older boys always hung around with Butch, who was the oldest and the meanest. They thought he was the coolest person around. Butch was a born bully, however, and he soon infected the other boys into bullying—bullying me that is._

"Takuto, you're a nobody!" mocked the young Takuto, angrily. "Takuto, you can't do anything! I'm sick of their insults!" With that, he kicked a nearby bucket, causing a loud racket.

"Takuto! What are you doing in there? It's time to milk the cows!" This was said by a faraway voice.

"C-coming, Grandpa!" said Takuto, rushing towards the voice.

_Back then, my family wasn't what you would call "wealthy." In fact, we may have been one of the poorest. Everyone had to work to earn their meal, including me. It wasn't until I was ten that my life started to change…_

Takuto had just finished his chores for the day, which included milking the cows, gathering eggs, washing dishes, feeding the animals, and sweeping the barn floor. His grandmother worked mostly indoors, making cheese and butter from the milk, and also doing the cooking, washing of clothes, and making yarn. His grandfather did most of the planting and harvesting in the fields.

Takuto put away the shabby broom into the dusty closet at the side of the house. It was only a little after noon, and he had at least the rest of the day to spend before being called in for dinner at 6:00 exactly. He had read in the papers that morning that a well known space general was visiting this very planet and would visit this town today. Takuto was extremely excited. He had always wanted to meet someone who roamed the galaxies like they were some highway. Never having left his home planet before, he was itching for a chance to climb aboard a ship and fly around on his own one day. One day…

"Grandma!" said Takuto, rushing inside the house. His grandmother was sitting on a rocking chair, knitting some clothes. "Since I finished all my chores for today, may I please go to town to see the space general? Please, please, please?"

"Calm down, calm down." Said Takuto's grandmother, laughing. "Of course you can. You've finished your chores so I have no objections. Just remember to return home by dinnertime…"

But Takuto was already out the door, on his bike, and riding towards town. His grandmother laughed again and shook her head. "That boy, always so excited about anything having to do with space…"

Takuto rode his bike swiftly on the rocky country road towards town. To say he was excited would have been an understatement. As Takuto rode towards town, thoughts flowed through his head.

"This is my chance!" Takuto thought, the cold wind whipping through his hair. "I'll show them! I'll show those boys and my parents! Everyone always thought I was weird for always talking about space, and always looking towards the sky, but I'll show them. Because someday, I'll be a space commander!"

_Of course, I never really knew that that would ever happen. Becoming a space commander is a long and hard process, and only the best people were picked for the job. With my poor background, it wouldn't exactly be easy for me to even enroll into a military academy. That is, until I met HIM, that very same day…_

Takuto continued riding towards the town, which was only a few yards away now. More thoughts rushed through his head, including the memory of how he first thought up his dream.

"After breakfast, you'll need to go to school." This was said by a long, dark haired woman with brown eyes. "I don't want you to be late again, got it?"

"Yes mom!" said a seven year old Takuto, finishing up the last of his waffles. "Mom, what will I be when I grow up?"

Takuto's mom paused a bit, as she picked up his finished plate. "Hmm, how should I know? We pick our own destinies, after all. Que sera, sera; whatever will be, will be; and all that." Finished Takuto's mom, reciting a line from an old song. "Drink your milk Takuto."

Takuto thought deeply as he sipped his milk. There was a program playing on the small black-and-white T.V. on the counter. It was talking about a new space ship, called the Elle Ciel, and there were people interviewing a middle-aged space general who was smiling. Takuto watched, transfixed. It wasn't until his mom spoke up that his mind returned to reality.

"Takuto! You haven't finished your milk yet!" This was said by Takuto's mom, of course. She seemed a bit angry. "You'll be late for school if you don't hurry!"

"Mommy, mommy!" said Takuto, excitedly. "I know what I want to be when I grow up!"

His mother's anger seemed to fade away. "Oh, really? So what do you want to be?" asked she, smiling.

"I wanna be a space commander!"

"Mother had laughed at me when I said that, though." Thought ten-year-old Takuto, somewhat bitterly. But he didn't have much time to be bitter for long, as he had finally reached town. His excitement rose again, as he quickly parked his bike in a bike rack, chained it down, and raced towards the center of town, where a large crowd of people had gathered.

There was a large wooden stage set up in the very heart of town. It was decorated with banners, red cloths, and a microphone, set center-stage. And at that microphone, was none other than General Luft himself. The mayor was there also, but no one really paid any attention to him.

"Welcome to this small town!" announced the mayor, extending his hand for a handshake. "We are very pleased to have you come visit our humble little town General Luft."

Luft took the hand and shook it. "And I am very glad to be here." Replied General Luft, smiling all the while.

"So this is what a space general looks like…" thought Takuto, amongst the crowd, staring in awe at Luft. His eyes scanned the general's elegant uniform. "Gee," continued Takuto. "I wish I had a uniform like that when I grow up…"

The crowd hushed as an interview session with Luft began.

"So," started the mayor, holding a bunch of cards which were questionnaires that the townspeople had filled out a week prior. "So, why did you choose to become a general, General Luft?"

"Well," said Luft. "I didn't CHOOSE to be general—rather, the job chose me." Here, he laughed.

"I…see." Of course, the mayor didn't really see, and in fact, had no idea what Luft meant by that. But he continued on anyway. "Alright, next question is… are you married?"

"Not yet." Said Luft, winking towards the ladies in the crowd. The mayor sweatdropped slightly at this act. "Is he REALLY the GREAT General Luft?(!)" thought the mayor, but he continued undaunted.

"So, next question is... How is space travel? Can you feel anything while going into hyperspace?"

"With the Elle Ciel, space travel is a cinch! You can't even feel the ship moving, even in hyperspace. The only time you'll feel it is if another fleet attacks you, or if we happen to crash into some meteors…"

There were a few "oohs" and "aahs" from the crowd.

"Aren't you at all scared that you might someday die in space?"

"…Sometimes, yes. Of course, that is always a possibility. However, I am confident enough in my crew that I believe I shall be alright. One must have confidence in their crew, in order for the crew to have confidence in themselves."

"Okay, next question!"

And this continued on for some time. Takuto took in everything Luft said like a sponge. He wanted to ask Luft something too, but he had missed the questionnaire filling a week ago due to an extra set of chores. He wondered if Luft would begin taking questions from the crowd after the questionnaires, when he heard a familiar voice that made his insides squirm.

"Hey, look, it's Takuto!"

This voice came from none other than Butch, the bully. He and his gang had been in the crowd too, although Takuto was too preoccupied to notice. Although Takuto thought the interview was the most interesting thing since television, Butch and his gang were nearly bored to tears, and they were more than happy at the easy prey in front of them.

Takuto gulped and stepped back quickly, as Butch and co. advanced upon him.

"Wow, we didn't even have to look for him this time!" said Butch, grinning maniacally. "GET HIM!"

Even though Takuto was reluctant to miss even a second of General Luft's interview, his instincts told him that his life was more important; so before he knew it, Takuto was off to a sprint away from the crowd, the older boys hot on his heels.

"Hey you kids!" shouted the Mayor, noticing the commotion, as more people turned to look behind them. "Stop this at once! Don't you see that we have a very special guest here?(!) Stop those kids at once-"

"Wait," interrupted Luft, putting up his hand and smiling. "I want to see what happens."

"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS?(!)" cried the Mayor, who was extremely exasperated by now. But he reluctantly complied as the kids disappeared farther into the distance.

There were about a dozen kids behind Takuto, with Butch in the lead, making it thirteen total. Takuto knew that running alone could not save him; being smaller made him faster, but he also had less energy. He saw a long row of fences up ahead, and quickly dived under one and was up and running again. The other boys, however, were not so agile, and five crashed into the fence post. The others jumped over it just in time.

Takuto quickly ran into a grocery store next. The owner was not there, since he was at the stage area, watching the interview. Takuto looked frantically around for anything that could help him slow the other boys and his eyes fell on a large jar of marbles. He quickly opened it and spilled the contents onto the floor. Just as he finished scattering the marbles, Butch and co. burst through the door.

"There he is!" cried Butch, but suddenly, there were loud crashing sounds as the rest of Butch's boys tripped over the fallen marbles.

"Arg, idiots!" cried Butch, kicking some of the boys, as Takuto made an exit through a back door. Butch had no choice but to go out the front door.

"I'll have to clean that up later…" thought Takuto, as he ran towards the stage, where the crowd was. "Only one more to go—I'll have to lose him in the crowd…" Takuto took a terrified glance behind him, and saw that Butch was hot on his heels.

"I'll get you for this, you runt!" shouted the older boy.

Meanwhile, up on stage, Luft and the Mayor were waiting.

"Ah, there he is." Said Luft, smiling, as he saw Takuto returning with only one boy behind him.

Takuto dived into the crowd, but it parted, making way for him instead. Takuto felt a flash of panic. If the crowd parted like this, he'd make an easy target for Butch!

"I've got to think of another plan…" muttered Takuto, scanning the stage as he approached. He saw the red cloths hanging around, and got an idea. "I hope this works!" he thought, as he went to the back of the stage and climbed up onto it.

"You can run, but you can't hide!" shouted Butch, who was right behind Takuto and climbing up onto the stage himself. With that cue, Takuto grabbed one of the red cloths and pulled as hard as he could. All of the cloths fell to the ground, like a wooden house collapsing. Fortunately, it also trapped Butch quite deeply underneath it all. The Mayor was outraged by this, however.

"How dare you ruin this stage-!" started the Mayor, but he was interrupted by Luft once again.

"I like your spunk, kid." Started Luft, leaving the Mayor shocked. "What's your name, boy?"

"It's Takuto—Takuto Meyers!" said Takuto, saluting the general. General Luft let out a hearty laugh.

"No need to be so formal, young'un. So, tell me, did you get rid of all the boys yourself?"

"Yes! I'm also a big fan of yours!" blurted out Takuto. The second reply was a bit off-topic, but Takuto was too nervous and excited to notice.

"Ah, I see." Luft continued smiling that same smile. "Now why are you a big fan of me?"

"Because you're an awesome general! And you travel in space! I've always wanted to travel in space someday. Everyone, my parents, the other boys, they all thought I was weird for dreaming of that…"

"I see." Said Luft, rubbing his chin. "Ah, I'm sorry; I've asked you so many questions when this is supposed to be MY interview. And it looks like you've been itching to ask me a question of your own, Takuto."

"Y-yes." Stammered Takuto. "I-I wanted to ask you; do you think I have what it takes to become a space commander?"

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Butch, tauntingly. He had finally freed himself from the rubble, and was now pointing maliciously at Takuto. "There goes that LOON and his crazy ideas again! Won't you ever learn, Takuto? Someone like you belongs in a MAD HOUSE."

Takuto felt tears stinging the corners of his eyes again, as everyone in the crowd started laughing too, including the Mayor. It WAS a crazy idea. How could some scrawny country kid POSSIBLY become the next big space commander? Surely his parents would have taught him better? Why didn't he just stay in his social class like he was SUPPOSED to?

"SILENCE!" Luft's voice boomed over the crowd, and a shocked silence fell. Luft had an angry look on his face, and he glared at the crowd, making everyone feel ashamed for laughing at the poor boy. Even Butch faltered under the general's glare. After a moment's silence, Luft turned to Takuto again, this time, with the smile returned on his old face, and his eyes twinkling.

"So," started Luft. "So, you want to be a space commander?"

"…Yes, if that's alright…" answered Takuto, hesitantly.

"That's more than 'alright,' my boy!" said Luft. "These people may doubt your abilities, but **I **believe that you'll make a fine space commander."

"Really?" asked Takuto, his face lighting up instantly. But then it fell again. "But—but, my family's really poor… I don't think they can afford enough money for me to be enlisted in a military school…"

"Oh, don't worry about that petty stuff; I'll take care of it for you." Seeing Takuto's puzzled look, Luft continued. "You see, Takuto, my real purpose in visiting all these planets is to handpick new students for the military academy. I thought that it was unfair that only the rich could afford to send their kids there, so I decided to take it upon myself to seek out those deserving students who would probably never get a chance like this. And you've got what it takes, Takuto. Believe me when I say it. You've got the wits, the courage, and the will to be a great space commander."

Takuto just beamed all the while, while everyone in the crowd stared awestruck. And the look on Butch's face was priceless.

_That day was probably the happiest day of my life. Never had I thought that my dream would come true so quickly. That very same day, my parents and grandparents were informed of what happened, and they were elated._

_The military academy was a great place. It was so much more interesting than regular old school, even if it was harder. And I was lucky enough to fall under the tutelage of General Luft himself, which made things even better._

_However, like my home planet, there were bullies at the military academy too. And once again, being the smallest, I was picked on greatly…_

"No! Stop!" cried a 12-year-old Takuto who was on the ground. Several older kids were stealing his lunch money once again.

"Sorry, kid." Said the oldest of the bunch, a handsome young rich boy with a snobby attitude. "It's the new rule around here. You'll need to pay a tax to walk through the halls. Isn't that right, boys?" Here the kid looked at his two goons, who just nodded stupidly.

"Give that back, Luke!" said Takuto angrily, getting back up on his feet. "That's my lunch money! I won't be able to buy lunch without it!"

"Aw, that's too bad…" said Luke, with a false voice of pity. "But rules are rules, kid, and I have to enforce them." With that, he kicked Takuto back down again and made his way down the hall, laughing, as his goons followed.

Takuto slowly stood up again and brushed off his white uniform. It was now soiled and dirty—again. A bell rang. It was time for class. Takuto sighed and made his way towards Luft's classroom.

"Hey, Takuto!" greeted Luft when he entered the room. "What's wrong, my boy? You look quite glum."

"Oh, it's nothing…" muttered Takuto. He'd rather not talk about it.

"Bully troubles, I suppose?" asked Luft, hitting the nail on the head. Takuto looked up in surprise.

"How did you…?"

"Know? Well, it's quite easy to see from your appearance, my boy." Luft pointed to Takuto's soiled uniform, which Takuto was trying to hide unsuccessfully. "Don't worry young'un. I was like that too when I was a kid."

"Really?" asked Takuto, interested in what else Luft had to say.

"Of course! Everyone has bully troubles once in a while. But it takes a really great person to ignore it. And anyway, once I became General, many of my former bullies were so ashamed, they never wanted to see me again." Here, Luft laughed. "I think it will be the same for you, Takuto. Which reminds me… We have a new student transferring to our class today!"

"That's great!" said Takuto, excited. "Who is he?"

"His name is Lester Coolduras and… Ah! Here he is now!"

There was the noise of a door being opened, and in stepped an older looking boy. He had pure white hair and a large eyepatch over his left eye. He was very good looking, and had a very serious and grave demeanor about him.

"Welcome to the class, Lester!" said Luft, showing him his seat. It was right next to Takuto's.

"Hiya, Lester!" waved Takuto happily.

"…Hello." Said the older boy slowly, trying to avoid eye-contact.

More students filed into the classroom as class began.

_And that was how I first met Lester. Granted, we weren't friends at first. Rather, we were pretty big rivals. Well, at least __**I**__ considered him one. We both did equally well in the class, and we were both Luft's favorite students. Truth be told, I didn't really like Lester at first (sorry Lester…). I thought he was pretty stuck up, since he rarely answered any of the questions I asked him, and he just mostly ignored me. Also, he was very popular with the girls, and I guess I was a little jealous… Okay, I was VERY jealous. I thought he was just another rich brat. But one day, he proved me wrong…_

Takuto was standing in the lunch line in the mess hall, waiting for his turn to buy lunch. Luckily, he was able to avoid Luke today, so he still had some money left. However, when he reached the front of the line…

"Oh no!" cried Takuto, counting up his change. "I don't have enough for milk!"

"Here." Said a voice behind Takuto, and he turned around quickly. It was the white-haired boy. He had two 25 cent coins in his hands and was holding it towards Takuto. "You dropped this."

But Takuto realized instantly that it was the boy's own money, and that the boy was trying to help him.

"No thanks." Said Takuto angrily. "I don't need your charity."

Behind the two in the line, there were some annoyed uproars.

"Hurry up, up there!"

"We're hungry!"

"Stop holding up the line!"

"Do you want it or not?" asked the older boy once again, still holding out the two coins, his tone commanding.

"Fine!" yelled Takuto, grabbing the money and paying for his lunch, then quickly running out of the line.

It was still lunch time, although Takuto had already finished his lunch. He sat alone in a secluded spot away from the other kids, moping over the incident that had happened.

"Who was that kid to think that I needed charity?" spat Takuto, angrily. Although he was poor, he did not like being treated as if he couldn't fend for himself.

"Hey runt! You didn't pay us today!"

The voice he heard sickened him. It was Luke and his goonies.

"Sorry, I didn't see you today." Takuto lied. He had, of course, avoided Luke and his gang.

"Well, I'm willing to forgive you if you give us all your money." Said Luke, hands on hips.

"I don't have any."

"What?" Luke grabbed Takuto roughly by the collar.

"I said I already spent it all!" shouted Takuto angrily, pulling away.

"Is that so?" asked Luke, narrowing his eyes. "Prepare to be punished-!"

However, Luke was interrupted mid-sentence and sent flying a few feet away by a fist. Takuto looked up, surprised. It was that white-haired kid again!

"Leave the kid alone." Said Lester, in an icy-cold voice.

"Beat him up too!" ordered Luke to his goons from where he was laying. He was bleeding from the mouth and nose.

The two goons attacked Lester, but being big and slow, Lester dodged easily. He swiftly kicked one in the head, and punched another in the stomach. Both went down quickly. Luke stared in horror at the older boy.

"Forget this kid, let's go!" said Luke, getting up and running away, his goons following behind like a bunch of scared dogs.

"Wow, you were awesome!" cried Takuto. But then he remembered the lunch incident and some of his anger returned. "Why'd you have to come? I could have handled those guys myself."

"You would have been beaten up, more likely." Said the white-haired boy calmly.

"I'm not as weak as you think!" shouted Takuto angrily. "I don't need your pity-"

"I didn't help you because you looked weak," started the older boy. "I helped you because I couldn't stand watching those kids pick on someone who was smaller than them." Here, Lester fell silent and sat down. Takuto sat down too.

"Well, thanks…" said Takuto. "I'll have to pay you back someday, of course." Takuto stole a peek at Lester, who had his head in his arms. "Hey, why don't you hang out with the other cool kids?"

"I don't have any friends." Stated Lester, flatly. "It may look like I'm popular, but in reality, those guys are too scared to be my friends. I guess it's because of my fighting skills and this eyepatch…" He touched the large eyepatch gingerly.

"Well, how about I become your friend?"

"What?" asked Lester, thinking he had heard wrong.

"That's right, I'll be your friend!" said Takuto, enthusiastically. "That's one way I can pay you back!"

"But, aren't you scared that I'll just bully you like Luke and his goonies?"

"No, because if you were a bully, then you wouldn't have saved me from Luke in the first place!"

"You really are a trusting person, aren't you? Er, what was your name again?"

"It's Takuto! Takuto Meyers!"

"Well then, I'm Lester Coolduras."

"And that," finished Takuto, to an awed Kuromie; "Was how I met my best friend, Lester."

"Gee, who would have thought?" said Kuromie, impressed.

"You didn't tell the rest of the story about being at the academy, though." Said Lester.

"Well, the rest is history." Said Takuto. "And besides, it's your turn to tell the story Lester!"

"Me?(!)"

There were shouts of "Yeah!" from both of the younger members. Lester sighed and took a deep breath.

"Alright, alright." He said. "I'll tell you my life story if that will make you happy."

**To Be Continued!**

**Notes: **Okay, to clear things up, I had to make up a lot of stuff about Takuto's past. I have NO idea how old he was when he enlisted in the military academy, or how old he was when he met Lester. The only thing they ever mention in the GA mangas about Takuto's past is that he has somewhat of a country background. Other than that, I just had to wing it. The milk also actually cost $1, based on the bonus comic at the back of GA volume 1; but I thought that was a bit too costly for a carton of milk… I mean, wow, $1? So I changed it to 50 cents instead… I hope no one will be too upset about that change. (The main point about that is that Lester showed some kindness—I think the amount hardly matters in this case.)

Oh yeah, and the "Que sera sera" thing is actually a real song by the same name. It is sung by Doris Day.

**Character Bio!:**

Creta (last name unknown):

Gender: Female

Age: 24

Height: About a head shorter than Takuto.

Job: She keeps the Emblem Frames in good condition. She also researches Lost Technology.

Looks: She has short, blonde hair, and usually wears a blue headband. She also has bright blue eyes and freckles dotting her nose. She also wears large round earrings. She is usually seen wearing a one-piece jumpsuit with a black suit underneath.

Personality: She's a nice, energetic person who loves to research Lost Technology. She is very dedicated to her job, and I think she is a rather good friend of Takuto's and Lester's since she is usually seen talking to either of them. She also secretly likes boy bands.

My Opinion: I thought Creta was a pretty cool person. She shows up a lot more than Kela, but even then, it's still not much. Arg, poor minor characters who don't get much page time…

**See you next time!**


	18. Ep 18, Choosing My Own Destiny

**Legal Stuff:** I don't own Galaxy Angel.

**Choosing My Own Destiny**

**(Lester Special!)**

(Lester): _I don't want to bore you guys, so I'll get straight to the point. I was born on a rather technologically advanced planet called Lune…_

_My family wasn't extremely rich, but we were pretty well-off in our part of town, I guess. My dad was a rather famous space commander, and my mother used to be the owner of a big company. That is, until she had me and fell sick. She was never quite well again, so she decided to stay home and raise me instead…_

The sun shone brightly down on a large, comfortable looking house with two stories. It was painted a pleasant blue color, with white borders. There was a lovely little porch at the front of the house, and a rather large lawn and garden in front.

A middle-aged woman was sitting on a little swing chair on the porch of the house. She had a tired looking face, and a few stray gray hairs, but other than that, she looked still looked quite young and beautiful. Her bright blue eyes were focused on a small boy loafing around in the garden.

"Lester." She called. Her voice was soft and gentle.

The boy looked up. His two eyes were a clear gray color, and his hair was a pure white. He was holding a bundle of flowers in his hand.

"I'm coming, mother." Said he.

Although the boy was only ten, he had an air of maturity surrounding him. He walked slowly toward the porch to where his mother was, and handed her the flowers.

"For you." Said Lester.

"Oh, thank you, my dear son." Replied his mother, taking the flowers and holding them to her nose. "They're lovely."

Lester simply looked down towards the ground. His mother gave a little sigh.

"Why don't you go and play with the other kids?" she suggested, running her fingers through her son's hair.

"I don't want to." Replied Lester. "I want to stay here and take care of you." He finished this with the air of one who had a great responsibility. His mother laughed.

"Oh come on. I'm not THAT frail and sickly." She said this with gusto, but then had to pause as a fit of coughs came on.

"Mother!" cried Lester, alarmed. He held his mother's body so that she would not shake so much with each cough. "Please…" he continued. "Please don't exert yourself." His mother sighed.

"Ah, if only I were I strong as I used to be, you would not have to worry about me so much…" she said, after the bout of coughing had subsided.

There was the sound of wheels on gravel. The two looked out towards the driveway and saw a silver car pull up.

"Oh, it's your father." Said Lester's mother happily.

Lester quickly ran over to the car to open the door for his father. From the car stepped a large bodied man. His hair and beard where a straight black color, and his eyes were also gray like his son's. He was wearing the traditional space captain's uniform. When he saw Lester, he let out a gruff laugh.

"Lester! It's good to see you again, son." Said he.

"Welcome back, father." Lester answered simply.

"Now that your father's back, you can go play with the other kids now, Lester." Said his mother from the porch.

"But…" started Lester, but his father interrupted him.

"Yes, don't worry. It's a lovely spring day. Kids your age should be enjoying themselves!" This was said by Lester's father, who gave him a pat on the back.

Lester let out a long sigh, but finally said, "Alright, I will. Goodbye mother, father."

With that, he trudged off, while his parents looked on with sad eyes.

"He's still hasn't made any friends, has he, Anna?" said Lester's dad to his wife.

"No, Richard, he hasn't." sighed Anna to her husband. "He doesn't seem to talk much, either. I'm starting to worry about him…"

"I know. I worry about him too." Added Richard, also sighing.

"But the thing is…" began Anna. "The thing that worries me most… is that he never smiles."

_My father's name was Richard; my mother's name was Anna. They were wonderful, loving parents. They tried to give me all the love they could when they were home. You see, since my father was a space commander, he was always off on missions. And since my mother was so sickly, she would often stay for weeks at the nearby hospital. As you can guess, I was rather lonesome._

_It wouldn't have been so bad if I actually had friends. In my town, there weren't very many kids around, but I wouldn't want to make friends with them anyway. They were all rich, upper-class, and snobby and bratty. I hated them, and they hated me, because I was the "special" kid._

The young Lester had arrived at a park, in the middle of the town. It was large and neat, with neatly mowed grass, neatly pruned shrubs, and a clean playground off to the side. There were a few kids playing on the playground. They were all wearing fancy, costly clothes.

"Oh look," said one of the well-dressed boys, pointing. "It's the _special_ kid."

The other children stopped playing to look at Lester, who stood on the spot silently. They all glared at him until he finally walked off to sit on a bench on the other side of the park, then they returned back to their playing.

Lester sighed as he sat down on the cold bench, and looked at the clear blue sky with clouds floating lazily by.

_I guess I'll have to explain this part a bit. Ever since I was born, I had been labeled as "special". It was because of my white hair. White haired children were very rare on my planet, and were thought to grow up to fulfill great destinies. Because of this belief, I was always treated better by the adults than all the other kids. School teachers would always fight to get the privilege to teach me, because they all believed that I would do something great when I grew up. Unfortunately, this elicited jealousy from all the other kids, so they shunned me from their society._

Lester woke up, startled. Apparently, he had dozed off while sitting on the park bench. The sky was now tinged with orange as the sun started to set. Lester took a quick glance towards the kids who had been playing on the playground. They were all gathering their toys to head home too.

Lester got off the bench and started for home. As he trudged past the other children, he heard snatches of their conversation.

"There'll be a meteor shower tonight!"

"Are you sure? That's what you said LAST month but there was nothing!"

"I'm telling the truth this time! I saw it in the newspapers!"

"Oooh a meteor shower!"

"I want to come! Can I come?"

"Alright, alright. Everyone can come. Just meet at this spot in the park when the moon rises."

Lester sighed and kept on walking past them. Everyone was invited, except him, of course.

_Little did I know that that night, my life would change forever…_

Lester was putting away the dishes. The small family had finished dinner, and Lester was cleaning up.

"Thank you, Lester. That's very kind of you." This was said by Anna, Lester's mom. She and her husband Richard were sitting opposite each other at the table.

"Son, when you're done putting away the dishes, I want to talk to you about something."

Lester looked at his father in surprise. He quickly put the rest of the dishes in the sink and sat down at the table between his mother and father.

"Yes, father?"

Richard had closed his eyes and seemed deep in thought. Finally, he spoke up.

"You know, son; next year, after you finish grade school, you'll be going into the military academy."

"Yes, I know." Replied Lester truthfully.

"In the military academy, you'll train to be a space commander, just like me, eh?" Here his father laughed, but then his face became serious again.

"However," he continued, "the decision is really up to you."

Lester looked at his father in surprise once again.

"What?" started Lester. "But… Don't you WANT me to be a space commander just like you?"

"Of course." Replied his dad. "Of course I'd want you to be a space commander. But in the end, I don't care what job you'll take, just as long as you are truly happy."

Lester just stared at his dad in awe this time. His father seemed to understand the reason for his shock.

"You see, my boy;" started his father; "Some parents want their kids to be this or that, and force them into it. But I don't want to be that kind of parent. I want my son's happiness to come first, and no matter what you decide to do, you'll still be my son."

Lester had to blink several times to keep the tears from coming. He was very touched that his father loved him so much. However, this moment was very short lived…

A loud beeping sound aroused the small family. It was coming from the chrono crystal on Richard's uniform. Richard quickly took it off and spoke into it.

"What's wrong?"

"Captain Richard!" A voice from the chrono crystal said. "Meteors are going to hit planet Lune tonight!"

"WHAT?(!)" cried Richard in shock, as Anna and Lester looked on with worried expressions.

"The meteors weren't supposed to hit planted Lune at all," continued the voice from the crystal. "But they somehow veered off course, and now they'll hit the planet at full force!"

"How many are there? How big are they?" asked Richard, getting up from the table swiftly.

"There are over a dozen of them! As big as a house! We need your help to blast them all before the hit the planet, or they'll cause devastating damage!" The voice coming from the crystal sounded hysterical now. Lester and his mother exchanged scared glances.

"Alright, alright, calm down." Said Richard gruffly. "I'll go down to my spaceship right away."

"Okay, I'll give you the coordinates of where we have to meet." Said the voice from the crystal. "An evacuation order has already been sent to all the homes. Everyone is to go to their shelter underneath their house. Over."

Richard put the chrono crystal back on the front of his uniform and rubbed his temples.

"Ugh, just when I thought I would have some time for my family…" he mumbled. "Well then!" said he more loudly; "Anna, please take Lester down to the shelter and stay there, the both of you."

Anna nodded. With this, Richard took his leave and headed for his spaceship. As Anna watched Richard disappear down the drive, she looked up at the moon. It was red—blood red.

"That can't be a good sign…" she said, shivering slightly as a cold breeze blew past. Then she shook her head. "No. Richard will be all right. I shouldn't be so superstitious."

With that, she turned back into the house to take Lester down to the shelter. She found him standing near the table, looking anxious.

"Lester, dear, what's wrong?" she asked in worry.

"Mother…" started Lester, looking up into his mother's face. "I must go out and warn the other children!" Before his mother could ask him what he meant, he explained hurriedly; "The neighbor's children—the whole town's children! They've all agreed to meet in the park tonight to see the meteor shower! I don't think they know what's happened now! I must warn them!"

With that, Lester sprinted out of the house, with his mother crying out after him, "Lester! My son!"

Lester ran as fast as he could towards the park. It wasn't too far, but it was still far enough that it took a good fifteen minutes on foot. Having run the whole way, Lester was able to cut the time in half, and he now stood panting at the park entrance. He could see the group of children from here.

"Wow, look at the moon!" One young boy pointed. "It's red like blood!"

"Do you think we should be out here at a time like this?" asked one scared girl to no one in particular. "Everything's so scary looking… and the stars aren't even out tonight!"

"Oh come on!" said the oldest boy of the group, who was apparently the ring leader. "If you didn't want to see the meteor shower in the first place, then you shouldn't have come at all!"

"You guys!" shouted Lester with what breath he had left.

The kids in the park jumped at the sound, then turned in his direction.

"Oh, it's just YOU." Said the oldest boy, glaring at Lester. "What do you want?"

"The meteor shower… It's gone off course… It's going to hit this planet!" Lester finally finished his sentence in between huge gulps of air. Some of the kids gasped, but the oldest boy just laughed.

"Don't listen to him; he's just trying to scare us off."

"I am not trying to scare you off! It's true!" shouted Lester angrily. He quickly walked over to the group of children. They all eyed him silently.

"You're just trying to act the hero and save the day." Said the oldest boy matter-of-factly. "You think that just because you're so special, and get treated all nice by the adults, that you can just walk all over us?"

"No, that's not…" Lester's voice faltered, when he saw that none of the other children believed him either.

"See? He's always trying to ruin our fun!" said the oldest boy, turning his back to Lester and facing the group of kids. "The special kid! The child destined for greatness!"

BAM.

Lester had hit him in the mouth. The boy crumpled to the ground and just laid there, staring up in shock at Lester, who was still seething with anger.

"Do you think I like this?(!)" Lester shouted angrily. "Do you think I want this?(!) No! People are always expecting me to do something great! To the other adults, I'm just a tool—I'm not even a person in their eyes! I just want to be treated like a normal kid! I don't want to grow up, 'destined for greatness!' I just want to be normal… I just want to be ME!"

All the other kids stared at Lester in stunned silence. Then suddenly…

"Look, a meteor!" A girl cried, pointing to the blazing speck in the sky.

All the children, including Lester, stood transfixed, staring at the speck. It slowly grew larger, and larger, until…

"It's going to hit us!" cried the oldest boy. But just as soon as he had said that, a large red beam from space shot the approaching meteor and turned it into bits of rubble. Lester knew that the beam probably came from his dad's or someone else's ship. But even though the meteor had been destroyed, there were still significantly large pieces of it that could injure or kill people; especially when they fell from that height.

"Everyone!" Lester shouted, taking command. "We must take shelter in the cave! Hurry!"

The other kids nodded, and started running towards the lone cave in the park, which was built so that the kids could play in it during hot summer days.

Unfortunately, just as the reached the cave mouth, a lone chunk of the meteor came down quickly on one of the younger boys. Without thinking, Lester shoved the younger boy out of the way, but was struck full on in the left side of his face. Lester felt himself falling and blacking out. As he did so, he heard the screams of the other kids, and felt their hands grabbing him and pulling him to safety. After that, he felt only darkness and silence.

The next thing he knew, Lester had woken up in a large bright room. He was lying on his back, and the left part of his face was heavily bandaged. He reached up to touch it, and felt a throbbing pain. Looking around more carefully, he found that he was attached to many buzzing and humming machines. It was only then that he realized he was in the town's hospital.

"Ah, so you've finally woken up."

Lester looked toward the source of the voice, and saw that it belonged to an old, tired looking doctor.

"You've been asleep for three days straight; did you know that sonny?" said the doctor, with a soft chuckle. "Well, I'm just glad that you're still alive. When we first found you, we thought you wouldn't make it."

"Are the other kids okay?" asked Lester in worry.

"Oh yes, they're fine, thanks to you. They should all be with their parents now."

Lester leaned back with relief. But then another question aroused him.

"What about my parents?"

Here the doctor's face fell, and he called to someone. Moving away, the doctor's place was filled by none other than the famous General Luft. Lester gasped.

"You're General Luft!" he cried, but Luft quieted him.

"Shh, shh." Said Luft. "Don't strain yourself. You're still in critical condition."

Lester relaxed the best he could, and Luft continued.

"I knew you would recognize me, your father being a space commander and all." Here Luft chuckled, but then his face fell too, just like the doctor's.

"What's wrong?" asked Lester with alarm. "Where are my parents?" He asked again.

Luft hesitated, then he said, slowly and softly:

"Lester, my boy. Your father… he was a very brave man…"

Lester understood what Luft was hinting at.

"My father… He died, didn't he?"

Luft fell silent, and only nodded. Lester sank back onto his sheets, and he could feel tears stinging at his one eye that wasn't bandaged.

"I think I should explain." Luft continued after a moment. "You see, your father sacrificed himself in order to protect the people of this planet. He and the other captains were able to shoot down every meteor, except for one. This was the last one, and the biggest one. No matter what anyone shot at it, it just would not break up. So, in desperation, and with the meteor approaching planet Lune faster and faster, your father did the only thing he could…"

"He put his ship in the meteor's path, and gave up his life to save the people of planet Lune." Lester finished sadly, understanding all too well what had happened.

Luft seemed surprised at this comment, but only nodded to show that Lester had guessed right.

"Well, as for your mother…" Luft began.

"What?(!) Did my mother die too?(!)" cried Lester, springing up.

"No, no!" said Luft quickly, putting Lester back down. "She didn't die, fortunately. Here, Lester gave a sigh of relief.

"However…" started Luft again, and Lester's heart sank. "Unfortunately, the whole shock of the incident greatly weakened her. When the rescue-people found her, she had fainted. Now, she is currently in a coma, and has not woken up yet."

Lester sat in silence.

"I… am sorry, my boy." Luft started again, looking truly sad. "But… I have more bad news. I'm sure the doctor here can explain it better, though."

The old doctor, who had been standing to the side, jumped a little when he was mentioned. He came over to the bed slowly and began.

"Well… Son, you took a huge hit to the left side of your face with that piece of the meteor. We tried our best, but… In the end, we had no choice but to remove your left eye."

Lester just stared in shock horror at the doctor. Then he screamed out a long, agonizing, "Noooooo!"

Back in the present, Lester winced slightly. Takuto and Kuromie exchanged worried glances.

"Um, you don't have to tell us any more if you don't want to…" said Kuromie, who was hugging Space Whale Jr. tightly.

"Yeah, if it makes you uncomfortable…" said Takuto, grimacing.

"No, no, it's fine." Lester finished flatly, with a sigh. "The rest of the story's not as bad, anyway."

_Well, after that whole incident, I went into the military academy under the tutelage of General Luft. He gave me an eye patch to cover up the hole that the accident had left on the left side of my face._

_Unfortunately, the accident also made me more withdrawn and cold, I guess. All of the kids at the academy were scared of me because of the eye patch, and I never even bothered to try and make friends anymore—that is, until that day when I helped beat up those bullies for Takuto. After that, he just wouldn't stop following me around._

"Lester! Lester! Wait for me!"

This was said by a twelve year old Takuto, as he raced down the hall to catch up with a thirteen year old Lester.

"What do you want NOW?" asked Lester in annoyance, as Takuto came to a screeching halt at Lester's side.

"I just want to hang out with you!" smiled Takuto. "Is that so bad?"

"Yes, it is." Sighed Lester agitatedly. "It's annoying. Why don't you go hang out with the other kids? You're pretty popular."

_This was true, in a way. Takuto was a very well-liked person at the academy. I guess it was due to his friendly personality._

"But I want to hang out with YOU." Repeated Takuto. "And there's no way you'll be able to change my mind unless you brighten up!"

Lester just continued to sigh.

_It was like that for the rest of the time we spent at the academy. In the end, I just accepted him as a friend. I really had no choice, since he kept following me around no matter what I said._

_Finally, it was the last day of the academy. After today, we would have a large graduation ceremony, and then we would go on to work in the jobs we were best suited for._

"Amazingly, we ended up on the same fleet—with him as commander, and me as a major. And that's pretty much it." Said Lester, as Takuto and Kuromie listened attentively. "Shortly after that, we met the Moon Angel Troupe, and you guys probably know the rest."

"Wow, I didn't know you guys were such close friends!" exclaimed Kuromie, as Space Whale Jr. gave a "mew" in reply.

"I wouldn't say that we're close friends." Put in Lester pulling a face. "Just friends."

"He always says that." Whispered Takuto to Kuromie, but Lester overheard.

"WHAT did you say?" Lester started, annoyed.

"Um, nothing!" lied Takuto, a big grin on his face. "Well… it's time to go to bed, isn't it?"

"I'll clean up." Said Lester simply.

"Are you sure you'll be able to do it all by yourself?" asked Kuromie.

"It's fine." Replied Lester. "I'm not a baby, you know."

"Well then; good night Lester!" said Takuto cheerily.

"Good night Lester!" added Kuromie. Space Whale Jr. mewed in his arms.

Lester listened to the footsteps of the other two members until they disappeared completely. He sighed and began cleaning up, still reminiscing about the past. There was one important part of the story that he hadn't mentioned to the two.

A 21 year old Lester approached General Luft, who was sitting at a large desk in a large, empty-looking office. Luft had been doing paperwork when Lester approached. He stood up and smiled.

"Lester! I can't believe how far you've come. Why, when I first met you, you were just a little boy, and now, you are a man. You look very much like your father." Luft added.

Lester didn't say anything in response to this remark, so Luft continued.

"Ah, I'm sorry that your mother still hasn't woken up from her coma… I'm sure she would have been proud to see you here today."

"It's fine." Said Lester solemnly, and Luft understood that Lester did not want to talk about this matter further, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Well, it is almost time for you to leave this academy. So…" with this, Luft placed his hands onto his desk. "So, what do you want to do, Lester?"

"What?" went Lester, surprised. "What do you mean by that?"

"You can choose to either be a colonel, and captain your own ship; or, you can choose to be a major. You really are quite qualified for both positions."

"Why in the world would I want to take a lower position?" said Lester, trying not to show his annoyance.

"I just thought you would have liked to be with your friend, that's all." Said Luft, calmly.

"…You mean Takuto?"

"Yes, Takuto. He's going to be the captain of a small fleet of ships. He pleaded with me to let you be on the same team as him, but that would only happen if you were willing to take on a lower position. After all, we can't have two captains for one fleet of ships!"

Lester was silent.

"Of course," Luft continued; "Like I said, the choice is really up to you. I just suggested the idea because Takuto seemed to really want to have you on his team—and I've noticed that you two were very close friends. Now, being a major isn't that bad of a position. With Takuto as captain, you'll know that he's going to slack off every now and then."

Here, Luft laughed, and Lester almost smiled—almost.

"So, what's the decision?" asked Luft, sitting back down behind his desk.

"I… I don't know…" said Lester slowly, as he ran his fingers through his white hair. The truth was, he didn't realize what becoming a captain would mean. Sure, it would be one step closer to eventually becoming a commander of a larger fleet, but he would have lost Takuto in the process. The galaxy was far and wide, and captains of different fleets rarely ever met up with each other after they had graduated from the academy.

Luft noticed that Lester was clearly torn between the two choices, so he kept quiet and waited for an answer.

"My father…" Lester continued after a long pause; "My father wanted me to become a space commander…"

"This isn't about what HE wants." Said Luft, suddenly very angry, and Lester looked up at him in surprise. "This is about what YOU want. Now what do you want to do?"

"But, I have to honor my father's death…" Lester started, but was cut off by Luft.

"Lester, Lester. My dear boy. You're a smart kid, and a very filial one at that. However, I'm sure that if your father were alive today, and if he truly loved you, he would have let you choose whatever position you liked, as long as you were truly happy."

This came like a slap in the face to Lester. Where had he heard that before? And then he remembered his father's words, echoing through Luft's.

"How do you know…" started Lester, choosing his words carefully; "I mean—why do you think, that I would be happiest working with Takuto?"

"My dear boy, at my age, you just know these sorts of things." Said Luft, smiling; and his eyes seemed to sparkle too.

Lester fell silent for a moment longer, then finally said:

"Professor; I've made my decision."

"Lester! I can't believe we'll be working together!"

This was said by a twenty year old Takuto who grinned happily, as Lester came aboard the head ship that Takuto was leading.

"Yeah, I know…" said Lester, not returning the smile.

"Look, look! These two ladies will also be working with us!"

Takuto waved towards two girls who looked about eighteen. One had short purple hair and the other had long brown hair and wore glasses.

"These two girls are Almo," He nodded towards the purple haired girl.

"…and Coco." He nodded towards the brown haired girl.

"Ladies, this is Lester, and he will be the vice-captain of this fleet." Said Takuto. "He is also my best friend."

Lester cringed slightly at the last comment, while the two girls bowed to him.

"Welcome aboard, vice-captain Lester!"

Almo blushed slightly as she said this, while Coco just giggled.

"Here, I'll show you the rest of the ship." Said Takuto, motioning for Lester to follow as he walked over to a door. "How many adventures do you think we'll have?"

"Oh, I don't know." Said Lester flatly as the two went out the door together. "We're only a patrol fleet; I don't think we will get many."

"But who knows, right buddy?" said Takuto, smiling.

"Yeah, who knows?" Replied Lester, smiling for the first time.

**To Be Continued…**

**Notes:** Once again, I had to make up a lot of stuff, since we don't even hear any mention of Lester's past. I've always imagined Lester coming from a well-off family though. And I've always imagined that that was how Lester got his eyepatch, though I have no idea if I'm even close to what really happened.

And I'm sure I screwed up the whole ranking system too, (getting to choose which rank you want) but I wanted to show that Lester really did think of Takuto as a close friend, even though he would never admit it. And since he is the one telling the story, he would never admit it outright in his narrative either.

Also, this chapter was really depressing for me to write, at I time when I was already pretty depressed myself. But I'm glad it's done, though I know I rushed it at the end. Ah well…

**Character Bios!**

Almo (last name unknown):

Gender: Female

Age: 19

Height: Uh, about Milfie's height? I have no idea, really. Shorter than Takuto, definitely.

Job: Part of the Elle Ciel's bridge staff; she is mainly in charge of correspondence and communications.

Looks: She has short purple hair (cut in sort of a boyish fashion) and dark blue eyes. She has triangle-shaped hairclips on each side of her head above her ears. Her uniform is almost identical to Milfie's, except that the skirt is black instead of pink.

Personality: Well… The info at the back of the GA mangas says that she is "friendly and outgoing," but I personally wouldn't know, because even though she's supposed to play a pretty important part in maintaining the Elle Ciel, she's lucky if she even gets ONE line in each manga volume… So yeah, I basically know next to nothing about her—well, except that she is in love with Lester.

My opinion: Like I said earlier, I don't know much about her; so I can't really form an opinion on her. But…I do think she and Lester would actually make a good couple. At first, I thought that Lester should pair up with Ranpha, but now I think he should pair up with Almo instead! (She deserves him more, I think. LOL…)

Coco (last name unknown):

Gender: Female

Age: 19

Height: I'm sure she and Almo are the same height… Okay, well actually, she's a bit shorter than Almo.

Job: Part of the Elle Ciel's bridge staff; she is in charge of the Elle Ciel radar.

Looks: She has chest-length brown hair, tied in a braid with a red ribbon at the end. She also has reddish-brown eyes and wears glasses. Her uniform is identical to Almo's.

Personality: She's a quiet girl, who apparently likes shonen-ai (guy-guy love), though it's never even mentioned in the manga (though hinted at in the game). She seems to like the thought of Takuto and Lester pairing up… (ROFL) She's also Almo's good friend.

My opinion: Uh, same as for Almo's, pretty much. I don't know much about her since she talks, and shows up even less, than Almo does in the manga. Poor minor characters… Though the thought of her liking Takuto x Lester amuses me. I should write a crack Takuto x Lester fic, but I think that would creep me out too much… LOL again. (I see them only as good friends, not in THAT way! Plus, Takuto already has Milfie.)

**Well, See You Next Time!**

**Updated Final Notes:**

This chapter is probably the one I had to change the most (though nothing that big plot-wise). I had to shift that last bit of flashback sequence to where it is now because I didn't want it to sound like Lester had told everything (choosing to be a major instead of a captian to be with Takuto) to Takuto and Kuromie during story time.

This becomes important later, trust me.


	19. Ep 19, The Beginning of the End

**Legal Stuff:** I don't own Galaxy Angel.

**Notes:** Wow, this fanfic has gone a long way, hasn't it? I can't believe that I'm nearing twenty chapters already. Starting with this chapter, this series will start coming to a close. But don't worry; I plan on finishing this series with a few new chapters. Three chapter update, whoah! (This is why it took me so long to update… Eh heh…)

**The Beginning of the End**

"Okay, the fun of scrubbing floors has officially worn-off."

This was said by Vermouth, who was scrubbing boredly at a piece of the floor in the large docking area of the Black Moon. He and the other Hell Hound members, plus Sherry and Lulu; were still cleaning out the docks as their punishment for letting the G.A.G. members escape.

"Are you saying that scrubbing floors was fun in the first place?" asked Riserva, angrily, flailing a mop about (since he never really learned how to mop properly).

Vermouth pulled a face.

"I was just being SARCASTIC." Said he. The other Hell Hound members sighed—well, all except Red Eye, who was as quiet as always.

Camus turned to look at Sherry and Lulu, who were trying to see who could scrub floors the fastest.

"Are they still fighting with each other?" asked Guinness, who was refilling buckets with water from a nearby hose.

"Yes." Replied Camus in that heavy French accent of his. "Women…"

The other Hell Hounds shook their heads in dismay.

"Hey, did you hear?" started Vermouth suddenly. "I heard that the Galaxy Angel Guys were able to steal away a disc when they escaped!"

Riserva dropped his mop at this statement.

"WHAT?" started he; "Where did you hear something like THAT?"

"Oh, I have my ways…" said Vermouth, who was trying to hide a device that looked suspiciously like a dragonfly behind his back.

"Of course." Said Riserva, his eyes narrowing. "Your little robot spies."

"Well, what can we do about that?" asked Camus, looking through his hair for split ends.

"I'll tell you what we can do!" shouted Vermouth. "Let's go after the Galaxy Angel Guys, steal back the disc, and destroy them once and for all!"

"Aren't we supposed to be cleaning the docks?" asked Guinness stupidly.

"Where's the fun in that?(!)" cried Vermouth vehemently.

"But I thought you said-"

"I said I was being SARCASTIC, sheesh!"

Riserva rolled his eyes, as Camus butted in:

"Hey, I thought I was the leader of the Hell Hounds, not you!"

"Well," said Vermouth, turning to face Camus. "What do YOU suggest we do, then?"

"Oh, I have a plan in mind…" said Camus slowly, a wicked smile spreading upon his face.

"…I have a bad feeling about this…" sighed Red Eye to himself.

"I can't wait to board the Elle Ciel!" said Takuto happily.

He and the other two members of the Galaxy Angel Guys were currently on board their trusty space pod, heading towards the regal white spaceship that was a sanctuary for Prince Shiva; and was also the Moon Goddess Shatoyan's own personal ship.

"It's been ages since we've been aboard the Elle Ciel!" said Kuromie, with Space Whale Jr. in his arms. "I wonder how Space Whale is doing…"

"Remember guys," stated Lester coolly. "We're not here to have fun; we're here to see what the disc Takuto snatched from the Black Moon contains."

"Ah, Lester, always ruining our fun…" said Takuto, playfully, making Lester scowl.

"Oh, we're here!" cried Kuromie, as the space pod docked onto the Elle Ciel and the doors opened.

"Welcome aboard, Commander Meyers, Vice Commander Coolduras, and Space Whale keeper Kuromie!"

This was said in unison by the two lovely bridge members of the Elle Ciel: Almo and Coco. Almo blushed slightly when she caught sight of Lester.

"Yes, welcome aboard indeed!" said Luft, who had been standing behind Almo and Coco.

"You will allow me to put aside polite greetings and get straight to point, won't you?" continued Luft, pulling out the disc that Takuto had taken from the Black Moon.

"Of course, Professor Luft." Said Takuto, which elicited a sharp glare from Lester for using the title "Professor" instead of "General".

Luft just laughed and brushed this off with good humor. He inserted the disc into a slot at the front of the Elle Ciel, and a screen flashed.

"Unfortunately," started Luft; "I'm sorry to say that the disc you took was a blank."

The screen flashed once more, then showed a white screen.

"What?(!)" burst out Lester, as Takuto and Kuromie just stared at the screen with blank faces. "You mean we went through all that trouble for nothing?(!)"

"Yes, unfortunately." Said Luft again, although he was still smiling. "It was a good try, though, I'll give you that! Maybe next time."

"…You mean it was all for nothing?(!)" Lester continued to say, as Takuto and Kuromie just looked at each other and shrugged. "Are you really sure that it's blank?"

"Quite sure!" replied Luft. "We quadruple-checked it, ran it through decrypting devices, decoding devices, and everything from A to Z! We got absolutely nothing! And you can't really expect anything from a something that contains absolutely nothing!"

Lester stared at Luft as if trying to bore into his soul, and uttered not but a single word…

"WHAT?"

"Takuto!"

The three G.A.G. members turned to look towards the sound, and what they saw surprised them.

"Takuto!" cried Prince Shiva again, running towards him and hugging him around the waist. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Ah, your highness…" said Takuto, sweatdropping.

"Oh, it's the Moon Goddess!" cried Kuromie, noticing another figure entering the room.

And indeed, it was. She was wearing her familiar long gown, with a large head-dress and veil thrown over her face.

"It's been so long since I've seen the three of you." Said Shatoyan, smiling. "Ah, that's not necessary…" continued she, seeing the Galaxy Angel Guys about to bow to her.

"Moon Goddess!" started Shiva, hands on hips. "Can I please stay with Takuto and his friends for one day?"

"Now, now, your highness…" said Luft, a bit flustered. "You know you can't stray from the Elle Ciel!"

"But, but it's so boring on the Elle Ciel!" pouted Shiva. "I want to spend my few days off with Takuto!"

"Your highness, that would be wonderful," started Takuto this time; "However, as the future heir of the Transbaal kingdom, you must remember that you have certain duties. And one of them is that you must be safe and alive."

"But-" started Shiva again, trying to argue, but Takuto shushed the Prince.

"I'm sorry, but you'll be safer on the Elle Ciel than with me."

"Sometimes, I wish I wasn't a Prince…" said Shiva sadly, walking back towards Shatoyan.

"If that is all," put in Lester; "Then we should be going. May we take back the disc?"

"Yes, that is all." Said Luft. "And I don't see why not." He continued, taking the disc from the slot and handing it to Lester. With that, the G.A.G. began to head back to their space pod.

"Ah, wait!" cried Shatoyan, stopping them. "Before I forget, I wanted to give you this, Commander Meyers." From the folds of her gown, Shatoyan drew out a necklace. The chain was of silver, and from it hung a beautiful crystal in the shape of a star, encircled by a crescent shaped moon. Shatoyan put the necklace around Takuto's neck.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" said Takuto, inspecting the necklace. "But... Are you sure you really want to give me something like this?"

"Yeah, you know how many things Takuto breaks." Said Lester flatly, and Kuromie elbowed him for being so blunt.

"Do not worry about it." Said Shatoyan. "I'm sure it will come in handy to you."

"Um… Okay." Said Takuto, holding the pendant part of the necklace in his hand, and inspecting it closely. It cast little rainbows all about where the light hit it.

"I just have a feeling that you will need it." She said simply. "Please, do not hesitate to use it should the time come."

"Huh?" asked Takuto, confused as to what the Moon Goddess meant.

"Takuto, are you coming or what?" shouted Lester from the space pod's doorway.

"Coming!" said Takuto, as he took one more glance at the Moon Goddess, who was smiling serenely. "Thank you!" he shouted as he clambered into the Space Pod, whereupon it took off towards the G.A.G. base.

Shatoyan and Luft looked out one of the large windows of the Elle Ciel and watched as the space pod grew smaller and smaller.

"Ah, kids these days…" chuckled Luft. "By the way, that necklace…"

"Hmm?" asked Shatoyan.

"That necklace you just gave to Takuto… It couldn't have been a piece of Lost Technology, could it?"

Shatoyan fell silent. "I just have a bad feeling… that's all." She said after a while. "I hope that it's just my imagination... but it's always better to be safe than to be sorry."

Luft stared at her, concerned; after which he suddenly looked around in worry.

"What is it?" asked Shatoyan.

"…Where's Prince Shiva?"

"I can't believe that it would be so easy to sneak away from the Black Moon…" said Riserva.

The Hell Hounds were currently in some undisclosed location. They were all gathered in a large, dark room, with boxes scattered about, many screens adorning the walls, and a large control panel in the midst of the room. Vermouth was sitting at the control panel, while the other Hell Hound members were sitting on boxes or leaning against the walls.

"Well, it's no wonder that the G.A.G. escaped, then." Said Red Eye simply.

"Hey, a message!" said Guinness, pointing to the largest screen that was directly in front of the Hell Hounds. It was flashing red and yellow.

"Ugh, what is it now…" said Vermouth, pressing a button on the control panel in annoyance.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING?(!)"

All five Hell Hound members jumped in surprise as the face of a very angry Sherry appeared before them on the screen. Lulu could be seen, giggling in the background.

"Ah, Lady Sherry…" started Vermouth nervously, but Sherry cut in.

"How the hell did you guys escape? You're supposed to be cleaning the docks with me! If Lord Eonia finds out about this, I'll be the one who gets in trouble for it!"

"My, my; can't even control your own mercenary team now, Sherry?" taunted Lulu from afar.

"Don't worry, everything is under control." Said Camus, calmly, waving the rose in his hand casually. "We've figured out a way to get rid of those pesky Galaxy Angel Guys once and for all, and retrieve that disc back too."

"What disc?" asked Sherry, who was still livid with rage.

"I guess she didn't hear about the stolen disc…" Vermouth whispered to Camus.

"Either way, it's better to just not tell her, or else she'll be even more angry at us." Put in Riserva, also in whispered tones.

"Ah, nothing; I was just being silly." Said Camus, loud enough for Sherry to hear. Sherry did not look convinced.

"Look," interjected Riserva. "We all put our heads together for this plan, and we are sure that those G.A.G. will never survive it."

"Yes, we've ensured that there will be a one-hundred percent success rate!" put in Vermouth, adjusting his glasses.

"And if we succeed, I'm sure Lord Eonia will reward us—and you—very handsomely." Said Camus.

"Well… fine." Said Sherry after a moment's silence. "Alright, if you say that you're sure the G.A.G. will be defeated. HOWEVER! If you fail yet again, I will dole out a punishment so severe—so bad—that, that… That I don't even know what it is yet!"

"Oh no!" cried Guinness. The other four Hell Hound members just rolled their eyes.

"Alright, leave it to us, Lady Sherry!" said Vermouth. The Hell Hounds gave a salute to Sherry, and the screen turned black once again.

"So…" started Camus. "Should we begin?"

"Yes, let's." said Riserva.

At this statement, Vermouth pushed a button on the control panel.

"I can't believe that the disc was a blank…" muttered Lester, examining the disc with an intense, fiery glare. The Galaxy Angel Guys were nearing their base now. Kuromie rolled his eyes at Lester's statement.

"Will you just go over it already?" said Kuromie, exasperated, with Space Whale Jr. floating close by his shoulder.

"Yeah, it's not like you glaring at it will make something magically appear." Put in Takuto.

"Takuto, it's all your fault!" said Lester, shoving the disc into one of his cloak pockets.

"EH?(!)" cried Takuto.

"If you had at least checked the disc before we left the Black Moon, then we would have gotten something!"

"Lester, Takuto's not at fault in this!" defended Kuromie. "It's not like he had the chance to do that! You're just being unreasonable!"

Space Whale Jr. mewed angrily.

"You guys, stop…" said Takuto in a faltering voice, his hands raised.

The space pod shook a bit as it finally docked into the base.

"Ah, it's nice to be back home!" said Takuto rushing towards the door, trying to change the subject, and wanting to get away from the two fuming members at the same time. "Oh? There's a message here…"

Their main computer screen was flashing, so Takuto quickly went over to click the "play" button.

"Hello, G.A.G. members!"

The screen now showed all five of the Hell Hounds, seated or standing around some kind of control board.

"The Hell Hounds!" cried Takuto, Lester, and Kuromie in unison.

"Mew!" cried Space Whale Jr.

"What do you want, THIS time?" said Lester impatiently, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well if you're THAT impatient, I suppose we'll get to the point, won't we?" Said Camus, holding the rose to his nose. "Go to the Greendale Heights mall. It should take about forty-five minutes by space pod." Camus's face was replaced by a map with coordinates on it. "You will find out more there. Oh, and please… Bring the disc that you stole from us."

"I feel that there's something not quite right about this…" said Lester, as he and the other two members entered the Greendale Heights mall. "And I guess they finally found out that we stole a disc from the Black Moon…"

"Well, what choice do we have?" said Kuromie, the space whale calf floating behind him. "The Hell Hounds hung up right after that message..."

"And we know Camus enough not to take him lightly." Put in Takuto. "But wow, this sure is a nice place he picked out."

The G.A.G. stared in awe at the sight in front of them. The mall was double-storied and high-domed. Takuto and co. were currently in the midst of the mall. All around were shops lined side by side, bustling with customers, sightseers, and window shoppers alike. Right in front of the trio was a beautiful white marble fountain, decorated with gold borders and surrounded by blooming red roses. The water sprouted up from a large golden ball set on a marble pedestal, and fell down into a shallow, yet large round pool. The water was a clear, light blue color. The coins on the bottom of the pool shone gold as light filtered in from the glass dome above.

"Water fountains are always so calming; aren't they Jr.?" said Kuromie, turning to Space Whale Jr., who mewed happily.

"It's… fancy." Said Lester after a moment's silence.

Takuto looked at the coins at the bottom of the pool, then started rummaging through his pockets.

"Umm, hey Lester!" started Takuto. "Do you have any spare change?"

"What, you want to make a wish?" replied Lester. "Isn't that childish?"

"…Is that a rhetorical question?"

"Did you just answer a rhetorical question, with a rhetorical question?"

"Uh…"

"Oh, fine." Said Lester finally, pulling out what appeared to be a one cent coin and tossing it to Takuto. "Don't spend it all in one place." He continued, sarcastically.

"Yay, thank you!" said Takuto, his eyes lighting up like a little kid. He faced the fountain and closed his eyes in concentration. Then, with a slight flick of the wrist, he tossed the coin high up into the air and shouted, "I wish that we all live long, happy lives!" The coin splashed into the pool of water just as Takuto finished. Lester and Kuromie stared at the coin as it sunk to the bottom.

"Now why in the world would you wish for something like that?" asked Lester, turning towards Takuto. "I mean, knowing you, you'd wish for something silly, like a new gadget or something."

Takuto scratched his head.

"Actually, I don't really know what made me say that myself." Replied he, shrugging his shoulders.

Suddenly, all around the Galaxy Angel Guys, there was a large commotion. Many people had stopped, and were staring at the large television screen set high up behind the fountain. Some were pointing. The Galaxy Angel Guys turned to look up at the screen too. The commercial that had been playing had now been replaced with Camus's face.

"What the—Camus?(!)" went Takuto, staring at the Hell Hound leader.

"Is this his plan?" asked Lester aloud, though it was more to himself.

"We are the Hell Hounds," announced Camus on the big screen. "And we have taken over this mall so that we may host a little game of ours."

The Galaxy Angel Guys glared at Camus, while the shoppers just looked at each other, wondering if this was some big prank.

"Like I said, we—the Hell Hounds—have taken over this entire mall, including its security systems."

The mall's entrance doors slammed shut behind the G.A.G., and all the cameras in the mall focused in on them.

"What the hell is going on?(!)" shouted an officer, who suddenly appeared next to the fountain. "Who the hell are you?(!)" He shouted at the screen. Camus merely smiled wickedly.

"We have devised this very special game," continued Camus, as if he had not heard the officer. "For our very special players, the Galaxy Angel Guys."

Takuto, Lester, and Kuromie exchanged worried glances between them. All the shoppers began to stare at them now, and began to whisper amongst themselves. The officer turned to glare at them now also, crossing his arms over his chest.

"If you may, please take out the devices from the brown boxes in front of you."

The G.A.G. now noticed the brown boxes in front of the fountain that they had not noticed before. There were three of them, and each member opened one. Inside were what seemed to be square watches. However, the face was black, and there were no numbers.

"Um, thanks for the gift, but were already have our own watches!" said Takuto, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"You silly commander," said Camus, his face now turned into a scornful gaze; "They are not watches. And you need to turn them on."

Takuto slipped the device on his wrist and pressed a button on the side.

"Wait, it could be an explosive!" cried Lester, a little too late.

Luckily, it wasn't an explosive, for when Takuto pressed the button, the device flashed and revealed an image of Camus's face like that on the television screen.

"Oh, it's a little video screen!" exclaimed Kuromie, who had also put his on and had it turned on.

At this, Lester reluctantly put on his also.

"Well, that took a long enough." Huffed Camus impatiently.

"Alright, we put these things on, now what do you want us to do?" said Takuto, taking up the same tone as Camus.

"Ah, now we get to the good part." Continued Camus, his face returning to its cold, evil smile. "Like I said earlier, we have a little game set up for you. We, the Hell Hounds, have decided to devise a trial to test you, the Galaxy Angel Guys."

"What kind of test?" asked Lester angrily. "And why in such a public place?"

"Well, there will be all the more people to witness your failure, of course." Said Camus, thoroughly enjoying himself. "Each of the Hell Hound members have hidden a bomb in one of five areas. I have hidden the first bomb myself, within the very walls of this little mall."

The blood seemed to drain from each of the G.A.G. member's faces. The officer looked at the G.A.G., then towards the screen, then back at the G.A.G. in shock. Some shoppers were still in a state of disbelief. Others started to panic.

"Camus, did you really have to get innocent lives involved in this?(!)" shouted Takuto at the screen, livid.

Lester and Kuromie stared quite shocked at their commander; they had never seen him quite so angry before.

"Of course." Was Camus's smug reply. "We needed to give you three SOME motivation."

"Officer!" shouted Takuto, turning to the officer. "We must evacuate these people—NOW!"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" taunted Camus. "Or do I have to keep repeating myself? We have taken over this whole mall's security systems. All the exits are locked shut, and any attempt to break free and escape will be met with a 'little' explosion." Camus held up a small metallic remote with a single red button on it—the detonator, surely.

"Damn you!" shouted Lester this time, angrily.

"If I were you, I'd be careful about what I was shouting." Said Camus, giving Lester a disdainful look from above.

"Fine; we will follow your orders." Said Kuromie loudly, although his voice was shaking slightly. "What do you want us to do in this little game of yours?"

"That's what I was trying to get to, if you three didn't keep interrupting!" Camus scowled, but seemed to regain his composure a little. "All five of us have set up bombs with our own personal flair. They are all set up to explode one hour apart from each other. And I assure you that the explosion will be very large indeed."

"So you want us to find these bombs and defuse them?" asked Takuto.

"You're not as dumb as I thought you were." Said Camus, smiling wickedly. "Yes, that is what you must do."

"Wouldn't it have been easier to just blow us up right now instead of going through all the trouble?" whispered Takuto, turning to the other two members.

"Well don't give him any ideas!" Lester shot back, pulling a face.

"Starting at twelve on the dot," continued Camus, who—luckily—hadn't overheard; "the one hour countdown will begin. The rules of this game are that we will not tell you outright where the bombs are hidden, but we will tell you hints if you ask nicely. Also, you can not call in any reinforcements, such as the police or anything. We want to keep this just between ourselves."

"How do we know that you're not just bluffing?" asked Lester angrily, as Takuto and Kuromie motioned frantically for him to stop talking. "What if this is just some big joke you devised just so you can watch us squirm?"

"Well, if you really want to see if the bombs are real…" said Camus, making a motion as if about to press the button.

"Wait!" cried the G.A.G. in unison.

"Alright, alright! We get it! It's real!" said Takuto hastily. Camus smiled evilly.

"Good." He continued. "And there's not point in simply running away either, otherwise these poor, innocent civilians will get the punishment that was meant for you."

"Why are you doing this?" demanded Takuto, angry again. "You are not a god—you have no right to decide who lives or dies!"

"Alas young commander, you are quite still quite naive." Said Camus, twirling the rose in his left hand. "Ah well, as this is your first trial, I will give you a more than generous hint about where the bomb is. It is located in a place that I personally picked out, and it is closely associated with me. Also, it is hidden, but also in plain sight for all to see."

The G.A.G. looked at one another, puzzled.

"Oh, and before I forget…" continued Camus. "Even if you do find the bomb, you will still have to defuse it yourself. Good luck…or not."

The grandfather clock in a nearby clock store struck twelve times. Camus gave the Galaxy Angel Guys one last wicked smile.

"Your time… starts now."

**To Be Continued…**

**Notes: **Well, I'm glad that that's over with. Ugh, Camus's introductory speech was way too long! Because of him, I had to divide this story into three chapters, instead of just two! But anyway, moving on…

Did you guys know that I actually had to re-write the whole plot for these next few chapters? At first, I meant for the basic storyline to be, that the disc the G.A.G. got from Eonia's ship contained a sample of a "virtual world" that was in the works. The G.A.G. would then go check out the site where it was being created, only to meet the Hell Hounds and Sherry, who were trying to redeem themselves after their goof-up several chapters ago. This would lead to a short chase/fight scene, and eventually end with both the Galaxy Angel Guys, and the Hell Hounds, getting electrocuted when they accidentally crash into a large computer type thing.

Noa, seeing that all the members of both teams are still alive, decide to toy around with the G.A.G. instead of killing them outright. So she sends them into the "virtual world" (and the Hell Hounds too) by hooking them onto these machines, and their consciousness gets downloaded into the world. The virtual world turns out to be some kind of fantasy/RPG game. In order to get back to the real world, the G.A.G. would have to finish the game, by saving a princess from an evil monster.

I planned on Takuto's class being a soldier, Lester's a mechanic, and Kuromie a mage. I also planned on making Shatoyan the princess that they had to rescue. And I also planned on bringing in all the other characters from the GA manga, including the Angel-Tai. This was supposed to be possible due the systems that run the virtual world. The machines were supposed to be able to read a person's memory, and create characters modeled off the people in those memories.

But in the end, I just had to scrap the whole idea because I didn't like it. The reasons:

1. The Galaxy Angel Guys are out of their era. Fantasy worlds are often portrayed in a medieval period, making the G.A.G. too high-tech. I just can't see them in a world where technology like computers and even wrist watches don't exist.

2. It was just too hard to make jokes. I wanted to bring back some humor into the series before it ends for good, after those three serious back stories. Once again, the G.A.G. are out of their era, and I'm not so good at making up fantasy based jokes, unless it's fairy-tale based. Maybe it would have been easier if I were the "Dungeons and Dragons" type-fan. But unfortunately, I'm not.

3. I was also worried about the length. Seeing how each chapter just seems to get longer and longer, and it takes longer just to type up a chapter; I didn't want to have to go through like, four of those, especially on an idea that I only loosely plotted out. It would not be fun for you guys to read, nor would it be very fun for me to write.

4. Not only that, but the plot was overly clichéd, and I pretty much ripped off some parts of the Yugioh series to boot…

Looking back, I think I could have re-deemed the story-line a little, but in the end, I just said "Screw this," and went with this idea instead. Now, aren't you glad I didn't follow through with that horrible plot?

Um, character profiles next chapter, since I've ranted on long enough here.

**Updated Final Notes:**

Hey, more ranting! I had to fix up this chapter in a few places too… The first was the scene with Shatoyan giving Takuto the necklace. It gave away too many spoilers that was too… "out-there" so I changed it to make it sound more mysterious.

The second change is that I removed a pointless sub-plot involving Lester's necklace… I thought it was a good idea at the time.


	20. Ep 20, The 5 Trials of the Hell Hounds

**Legal Stuff:** I don't own Galaxy Angel.

**Notes:** By now, I think you guys can probably guess why I decided to upload three chapters at the same time. Continuity reasons. Yes, I wanted to make sure everything fit before I uploaded anything, because it would be easier to fix plot holes that way, and it would be the fastest way to get things done. So… Yeah. Sorry for the wait; but hey! You guys now have three chapters to read!

**The Five Trials of the Hell Hounds**

The large television screen turned black, as Camus had shut off connection. Similarly, so had the wrist devices that the G.A.G. received from the Hell Hounds.

"I guess we have no choice but to play his little game, huh?" said Takuto, weakly turning to the other two members who were watching him closely. His head was down.

"Takuto…" said Kuromie sadly, feeling pity for him one could suppose.

"Well, we can't just stand here, wasting our precious minutes!" said Takuto finally, making a strained smile. "We have to find that bomb as quickly as we can, and defuse it. The lives of all these people in the mall depend on it."

Lester and Kuromie nodded at this.

"Alright, but where do we start?" put in Lester. "I mean, there are hundreds of shops here! Who knows where the bomb could be!"

"Yes, not only that," started Kuromie; "But we don't even know its size! The bomb could be as big as a car, or as small as a penny!"

"In times like this, we must make do with the hints the enemy has given us." Said Takuto, drawing on his experience from the military academy. "Remember what Camus said? _'It is located in a place that I personally picked out, and it is closely associated with me. Also, it is hidden, but also in plain sight for all to see.'_"

"Yeah, but what the hell does all that mean anyway?" cried Lester, throwing his hands up into the air.

"I think we should just pay attention to the first part, first." Continued Takuto. "So… What do we think of, when we think of Camus?"

"Other than that he's a crazy psychopath?" spat Lester, angrily.

"Well… He's French…" put in Kuromie, stating the obvious.

"And he's gay." Said Lester, vehemently.

"…Lester, insulting Camus isn't going to help us find the bomb any faster…" said Takuto, sweatdropping.

"But it's true!"

"Now we don't know that…"

"Do you know of any man who dresses so girlishly? He wears a friggin' dress for crying out loud!"

"…Isn't it more of a gown?"

"A gown is still a dress isn't it?"

"…"

"Roses!" said Kuromie suddenly, making Takuto and Lester turn in surprise, and go "Huh?(!)" in unison.

"Camus really likes roses, doesn't he?" continued Kuromie. "I mean, he's always carrying them around, and waving them around, isn't he? I still remember that he hit me with one when we were in that play…"

Kuromie muttered this last sentence with annoyance, and Space Whale Jr. mewed in agreement.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" shouted Takuto. "To the flower shop! Ah, um…"

This last part was directed towards the officer, who was still standing near the fountain and had heard everything.

"I should be very mad at you three," started the officer; "But I just can't bring myself to be in this time of emergency. You three are our only hope, so you better get going and find that bomb as fast as you can! The flower shop is thataway." The officer pointed towards the shop in question as he said this.

"Thank you!" said Takuto, as he and the other two members ran towards it.

"Please be careful with those antique flower vases!" said a very flustered flower shop owner who was wringing his hands. "Those are one of a kind!"

"Shouldn't you be more worried that a bomb is going to go off?" asked Lester annoyed.

The Galaxy Angel Guys had decided to look over the entire shop instead of just the rose bouquets—just in case. Kuromie was looking through half of the flowers, Takuto the other half, and Lester was left to look in the flower shop's many vases and flower pots.

"And besides, human lives can't be replaced!" finished Lester.

"Well, neither can these vases!" huffed the Flower Shop owner indignantly.

Takuto and Kuromie looked at each other and sighed.

"What are we going to do when we find the bomb, though?" asked Kuromie, bending over some geraniums, as Space Whale Jr. hovered above some daisies.

"You mean IF we find it." Put in Lester darkly. Takuto ignored this statement.

"I've already alerted Creta about it." Said Takuto. "But she'll need to actually see the bomb before she can help us defuse it."

"I thought we couldn't call in any reinforcements?" questioned Kuromie, straightening up.

"It's not really calling for reinforcements if they don't actually arrive in person, right?"

"…So you're going to defuse a bomb…" started Lester, making sure he heard right. "Via telephone?"

"You forget," said Takuto; "That when Creta upgraded the Chrono Crystal for me, she also installed a little real-time camera."

Lester and Kuromie didn't seem to show much interest in this, however, as they just went back to searching. Takuto shrugged and went back to searching again too; he grasped at a rose by its stem without thinking.

"Ow!" cried Takuto.

"What, what is it?(!)" went Lester and Kuromie at the same time.

"I pricked my finger on a thorn…" whined Takuto, who was looking at his finger. There was a small cut where the thorn had pierced him, and a small drop of blood was beginning to drip out.

Lester and Kuromie looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Oh… Bad luck…" muttered Takuto, to which the two other members loudly replied: "Don't jinx it!"

"Ugh, this is getting us nowhere!" said Lester, glancing at a nearby wall clock. "We haven't found anything, and now we've just wasted a good thirty minutes!"

"Hey, flower shop owner!" said Takuto. "Are there any other flower shops in this mall?"

The flower shop owner shook his head.

"No; my shop is the only one."

"So where the heck are we supposed to search now?" asked Lester angrily. "We don't have time enough time to search through another shop, and we still have to diffuse the bomb to boot!"

"Remember," started Takuto; "Whenever one is faced with a difficult task, one must take it calmly."

"Yes, but you must admit, it is rather hard to stay calm when your eminent doom is so close." Sighed Kuromie.

"What else do we know about Camus?" asked Takuto, though this was more to himself.

"Well, he's egotistical." Said Lester off-handedly. Takuto stared at him.

"That's it!" shouted Takuto happily, making Lester, Kuromie, and the flower shop owner jump in surprise. "Camus likes to be the 'center of attention', doesn't he?"

"Well, yeah." Replied Lester, not quite understanding what Takuto was getting at.

"Now where," continued Takuto; "Can we find something that is in the exact center of the mall, is surrounded by roses, and is 'hidden, but also in plain sight for all to see'?"

"You don't mean…" started Kuromie, the idea slowly dawning on him.

"The fountain!" finished Lester, slapping a hand over his one good eye. "Of course! The bomb was right in front of us the entire time!"

"We can't be sure of that…" said Takuto, biting his lower lip. "But it's the only lead we have now—come on!"

With that, the G.A.G. hurried back to the fountain.

"Officer," said Lester to the same officer they had met earlier (He had still been standing there). "Can you please shut off the fountain?"

The officer did so, and the G.A.G began examining the fountain quickly, yet carefully.

"Takuto, look!" cried Kuromie, pointing to golden ball set up on the pedestal, from which water had been spewing. There was a slight seam all around the ball's circumference, going vertically. Only someone who came up close to the ball would have seen it.

Lester pried it open with his hands. It opened up like a walnut, and revealed an intricate time bomb, wrapped around the nozzle from which the water sprouted out of the ball. The bomb was made up of many different colored wires, all intricately connected to a small explosive devise, which had numbers counting down. Takuto quickly took the Chrono Crystal off his uniform top, and pressed a button. Immediately, Creta's face was revealed on it.

"So, how do we diffuse this thing?" asked Takuto, holding the Chrono Crystal towards the bomb, with Creta's face facing it.

Creta, the Elle Ciel mechanic, looked at the bomb closely for several minutes. Then she said finally, "You'll have to cut one of the wires. That will shut off the whole bomb."

"But which wire is it?(!)" asked Lester, waving to the tangled mess. "There are a ton of them here! Now, I don't know much about bombs, but even **I** know that cutting the wrong wire would set it off."

"I'm… sorry." Said Creta, shrugging. "I'm an expert at fixing ships, not diffusing bombs. You'll just have to figure that out yourselves, I'm afraid."

"Oh, oh, now what do we do?(!)" cried Kuromie, starting to panic. Space Whale Jr. mewed worriedly.

Takuto stared at the many colored wires, then asked, "…What's Camus's favorite color?"

"How the hell would I know?(!)" said Lester, throwing his hands up into the air. "I mean, it's not like I've ever had the time to ask him over a nice cup of tea; 'What's your favorite color?' Or, 'What's your favorite brand of champagne?'"

"Lester, this isn't the time to be sarcastic!" said Kuromie, exasperated.

Takuto went back to staring at the wires; this time, with his trusty Swiss Army Knife out in his hand. He inspected each colored wire carefully, and his eyes finally fell on one. Smiling, he took hold of the wire, and cut it.

"Takuto!" cried both Lester and Kuromie at the same time.

Fortunately, the time bomb stopped, leaving Lester and Kuromie staring at it with their mouths wide open.

"Takuto…" said Lester finally. "How in the world did you know which wire to cut?"

"Simple." Replied Takuto. "I saw that there was only one wire that had a color that wasn't used twice."

"And that color was…?" asked Kuromie.

"It was purple!"

"…Okay, know we know that Camus is officially gay." Said Lester.

Back with the Hell Hounds…

"Hey!" screamed Camus, as the other Hell Hounds looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I am NOT gay!" asserted Camus, noticing his teammates eyeing him with suspicion.

"Either way, the G.A.G. were able to diffuse your bomb!" said Vermouth angrily. "You gave them WAY too much info!"

"Don't worry, they still have four more bombs to go through, and mine is next." Said Riserva, going up to control panel.

Back at the mall…

"Thank you, you three!" said the officer, happily. People were cheering in the background. "Thanks to you, everyone is safe, and we have finally regained control of the security systems once again."

"I'm afraid we don't have time to celebrate…" said Takuto, looking down at his wrist—the device was flashing again.

"This is the place." Said Lester.

Following Riserva's directions, it had led the Galaxy Angel Guys to a car dealership. The place had a small building surrounded by a large black top. On it, many cars were lined side by side, in neat long rows.

"Riserva wouldn't tell us anything other than that he had planted five bombs in five different cars." Said Kuromie, who was clutching Space Whale Jr. in his arms. "So I guess we have no choice but to search every car?"

"Every SINGLE car?" said Lester, a look of utter loathing on his face.

"I don't think we'd have enough time to check all these cars…" said Takuto, looking around the lot. "Even though we have an extra fifteen minutes because we diffused Camus's bomb early, there's still too many cars to check before the bomb explodes!"

"Well, seeing as Riserva's a rich snob, we could just check all the expensive cars." Suggested Kuromie. "I don't think Riserva would be the type to just hide his bombs in any old car."

"Oooh, you're right!" said Takuto, perking up. "Hmm, do you think we should warn the owner of this place?"

"How?" put in Lester. "Just go up to him and say, 'Hey, there are bombs in five of your cars and they're going to explode in roughly seventy minutes?'"

"…Yeah!" said Takuto, starting to make his way towards the lone building on the car lot.

"Wait, I was just joking!" said Lester, yanking Takuto back by grabbing hold of his cape. "Sheesh! Let me handle this!"

With that, Lester started walking towards the building, with Takuto and Kuromie trailing behind.

"Isn't this somewhat exciting?" said Takuto, quickening his stride to match Lester's.

"Exciting?(!)" exclaimed Lester. "You think that trying to find bombs so we don't explode into a thousand bloody pieces is exciting?(!)"

"It's like we're secret agents on a mission!"

Lester just sighed at this comment. The G.A.G. had reached the car dealership building. Lester went in first.

"Uh, excuse me, sir." Said Lester, approaching the desk where the manager sat.

"Yeah, what do you want?" asked the manager impatiently, who was shuffling through a large pile of paperwork on his desk.

"I have something important to tell you, and it might take a while."

The manager sighed and looked up from his work.

"Alright, what is it?"

"Now, you may not believe me…" said Lester, slowly. "But there have been five bombs placed in your cars and they're going to explode in exactly sixty-eight minutes."

"Wait, what?(!)" sputtered the manager. "Are you trying to pull my leg here?(!) Just who are you?(!)"

"SECRET AGENT MAAAAN!" shouted Takuto, before Lester could say anything.

Lester immediately punched Takuto, and sent him flying into a nearby potted tree, while Kuromie just stared on blankly.

"I don't know him—really." Said Lester, putting a forced smile on his face.

"…" went the manager.

After a few minutes in which the G.A.G. did their best to explain the situation, the manager of the car dealership finally became convinced enough to let the G.A.G. into the grand showroom, where the most expensive cars were kept. The manager, however, still kept a close eye on Takuto and Lester.

"It wouldn't have taken so long to convince him if you hadn't made that crazy outburst!" muttered Lester.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist…" said Takuto, apologetically, sweatdropping.

"No time for that now, we have to search these ca—ahhh!" cried Kuromie, falling over backwards. Takuto and Lester rushed to his aid. Kuromie pointed to a curtain a few feet from him. It was moving… Something was behind it!

"Hi-yah!" went Lester, grabbing hold of the curtain and whipping it back.

"Prince Shiva?(!)" cried all three members.

Indeed, Shiva was sitting there, crouched down as if trying to hide. Shiva was wearing an old jacket, to cover the familiar fancy white robe.

"Darn it, you found me…" said Shiva, getting up.

"Your highness, what in the world are you doing here?(!)" cried Takuto. "You should be on the Elle Ciel! How did you get here?"

Shiva shrugged and said, "I hitchhiked on your space pod when you guys weren't looking. When you guys reached your base, I was about to get off, but then you three re-boarded so I was forced to stay where I was. Then you went to the mall, and then here. I was following you guys the whole time!" Shiva finished this proudly, but Takuto merely frowned.

"Your highness, that was a very bad thing to do." Reprimanded Takuto. Shiva's face fell.

"I'll have to report this to the Moon Goddess…" continued Takuto, reaching for the Chrono Crystal, but Shiva stopped him with a loud, "No!"

"Please," said Shiva, grabbing a hold of Takuto's sleeve. "Please don't tell Shatoyan about this!"

"But I have to!" responded Takuto. "When the Moon Goddess finds out that you're missing (if she hasn't already), then she'll throw a fit!"

"That's why you shouldn't tell her!"

"Um, I hate to interrupt your conversation…" started Kuromie, hesitantly. "But we are quickly running out of time…"

"Oh, oh, I can help you find the bombs!" put in Shiva, jumping up and down.

"Wait, how did you-?" said Lester, but was interrupted by Shiva.

"I followed you guys, remember?"

"Well, I guess you can help us…" said Takuto slowly.

"Wouldn't that be dangerous?" asked Lester. Takuto shrugged.

"If we are to find all these bombs before time runs out, then we're going to need all the help we can get. Just be careful; alright, your highness?"

Shiva nodded quickly.

"Hey, manager." Said Lester. "Could you give us a hand too?"

The manager consented.

After about twenty minutes, the G.A.G. (aided by Prince Shiva and the manager), were able to locate all five bombs. They were all hidden in the most expensive cars, at five different extremities of the showroom (which was a round shape, by the way). The bombs were located in the trunk of each car. They were rather large metal boxes with a single red switch on the side, and a small face showing numbers counting down.

"So, Creta, what do we do now?" asked Takuto to Chrono Crystal, from which Creta's face was showing once again.

"These are very simple bombs, actually." Said Creta, after she had looked closely at all five bombs (Takuto had to show her each one by holding out the Chrono Crystal). "You can turn off these bombs simply by flipping the switch on them."

"Really? THAT simple?" asked Lester, skeptically. "There's got to be a catch."

"Yes, in fact, there is." Said Riserva's voice. All three G.A.G. members looked down at their wrist devices in surprise. They had forgotten that they were on, and that the Hell Hounds could hear and see everything that the G.A.G. members did. Riserva's face was showing on the real-time video screen.

"You can't just turn off the bombs in ANY order. There's a specific order you need to follow if you don't want to set any of them off 'accidentally.'"

"…And you're not going to tell us, right?" said Lester.

"Of course not." Replied Riserva flatly. "And so that I won't give away too much, like a certain blue-haired someone—(Camus gave a shout of "Hey!" here)—I won't say anything more."

"Great," said Lester to his teammates. "Now what?"

Kuromie and Shiva began to have a small conversation about the possible order of the bombs, while Takuto began to pace around the circumference of the showroom, pausing to look at each car. Lester sighed and began to study one of the bombs carefully. After a few minutes had passed, Takuto finished looking at all five cars, and went straight to the manager and asked for a piece of paper and pencil. The manager fulfilled his request, and Takuto took the paper and pencil and made five points on it, representing the five cars. Takuto looked at the five points on the paper, then back at the cars, then back at the paper. Then he smiled.

"I've figured it out!" cried Takuto, and the other two members, along with Shiva, rushed over to him. He showed them the piece of paper triumphantly. "Now, what shape do you see?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Lester, somewhat annoyed. "They're just five dots!"

"Well, if you connect them, they make a pentagon…" suggested Kuromie.

"No, you idiots, it's a pentagram!" shouted Shiva. Lester and Kuromie turned to look at the prince in bewilderment, while Takuto simply smiled.

"Yes, that is correct!" he said, quickly making a pentagram with five quick strokes of the pencil.

"But… How in the world would you guys know that?" asked Lester.

Takuto and Shiva looked at each other, trying to hide their smiles.

"You should look closer at the cars, then." Said Shiva simply.

Space Whale Jr. mewed and hovered near the front of one of the cars. Lester and Kuromie went to it to get a closer look.

"Oh. Of course." Said Lester, slightly embarrassed. "All of these cars have a pentagram as their insignia!"

"Yes!" said Takuto happily. "Is that right?" He asked the Riserva, who was silent. Takuto took this as a "yes."

"But still… How do we know which order to turn off the bombs?" asked Kuromie.

"Easy!" replied Takuto. "Pentagrams are usually drawn in one swift motion, right? You don't have to lift up your pencil to draw a pentagram!"

"You start at one point; go to the point directly opposite it; then connect it to the point next to the point from which you started; cross the first line you made to reach the point directly between the two points; go down to the remaining point; and finally go back to the point from which you started." Explained Lester. "Well, it's much easier just to show it than explain it…" continued he, sweatdropping as he saw the blank looks on Kuromie's and Shiva's faces.

"Now, the only problem we have is finding out the first point…" muttered Takuto. "Kuromie, you better go and take Shiva to a safe place."

Kuromie and Shiva started when they heard this.

"But, but-!" went Shiva, but Takuto hushed him.

"Your safety comes first, your highness."

"You'll guys will be alright… right?" asked Kuromie, taking a hold of Shiva's hand.

"We'll be fine." Put in Lester. "This is just a precaution… should anything go wrong."

"Please be careful!" shouted Shiva, as he followed Kuromie out of the building.

Lester turned to the manager, who was looking pale.

"You can go too, you know." He said, calmly.

"Yes, but being the manager, I have to stay and watch my shop!" insisted the manager, though his face didn't look it.

"Fine, but don't come crying to us in the afterlife, saying that we didn't warn you."

The manager whimpered at this statement.

"Lester, that wasn't necessary…" said Takuto, who had gone back to studying the positions of the cars carefully. "Hmm, the first point of the pentagram is the one from which it begins and ends, right?"

"Well, yeah." Said Lester.

Takuto looked around the showroom once more, then he smiled as his eyes fell on one particular car.

"Lester, do you know what's so special about that car over there?" asked Takuto, pointing.

"It's the only car near the entrance." Replied Lester, noticing it.

"Yes, but do you know what else is special about it?"

"…"

"Lester, didn't you notice that there is only one way opening into this showroom? That means that there's also only one way out also, right?"

Lester did a facepalm.

"Ah, I can't believe I overlooked something as simple as that!" cried he.

"But… Are you really sure that's the one?" asked the manager, who was now sweating profusely.

"There's only one way to find out." Shrugged Takuto.

"I was afraid you'd say that…"

"I'll flip the switch." Lester volunteered. "You guys can stay back."

Lester went to the car near the entrance. He looked at the bomb, took a deep breath, and flipped the switch.

The bomb shut down.

"Alright! That's one down, and four more to go!" shouted Takuto happily. The manager looked like he was about to faint.

Fortunately, Takuto was right, and the remaining four bombs were shut off without much trouble.

"Takuto," started Lester. "You are a genius."

"I know, I know." Said Takuto, grinning. The manager was shaking Takuto's hand vigorously, crying all the while.

"Thank you, thank you!" sobbed the manager.

"Uh, you're quite welcome…" said Takuto, sweatdropping.

"We don't have much time to relax." Said Lester, pointing to the wrist device. "Looks like it's that meat-head's turn."

"Camus and Riserva may not have been able to finish you off," shouted Guinness from the device; "But it's my turn now, and you'll be sorry! The next bomb is in the local gym near here-"

But Guinness was cut off by a voice (which sounded like Vermouth's) saying, "Shut up you idiot! Don't go giving it all away!"

"So, the next bomb is in a gym, huh?" said Lester, rubbing his chin. "How typical of Guinness."

The Chrono Crystal on Takuto's uniform front flashed. It was an incoming message from Kuromie. Takuto turned the crystal on.

"Takuto!" came Kuromie's voice. "We saw the transmission! We're already at the gym Guinness mentioned! We decided to take refuge here when you two were deactivating the bombs."

"Are you sure it's the right one?" asked Takuto

"Yes, I'm quite sure! It's the only gym here for a hundred miles. And Guinness did say that it was near the car dealership, where you guys are."

"Alright, we're coming over right now!"

A short while later, two men, who had been running at full speed, came to a halt in front of the large, five-story gym.

"Well, we're here." Said Lester, stopping in front of the gym's double doors and studying it. Takuto, who was quite out of breath, almost crashed into him as he jogged up from behind.

"Owwww, my side hurts…" Takuto moaned, clutching his stomach. Lester rolled his eyes—er, eye.

"Goddesses, Takuto! You're so out of shape!"

"I know…"

Lester pushed open the door, and a very flustered Kuromie rushed up to him, followed by a very annoyed Prince Shiva. Space Whale Jr. floated behind the two.

"We've searched the first floor of the gym already." Gasped Kuromie, who also seemed out of breath. "We couldn't find anything, unfortunately."

"There are still four floors left, so I wouldn't worry about that…" said Takuto, beginning to recover from the short run. "Ah… You look annoyed, you're highness." Kuromie looked a bit embarrassed.

"Well, we TRIED to notify the manager here about the bomb, but…" started Kuromie, but Shiva cut in.

"They wouldn't believe us!" shouted Shiva. "Just because we're kids! Don't they even know who I am?(!)"

"Shiva—er, your highness, please calm down!" said Takuto quickly, noticing the weird stares that Shiva was eliciting.

"I'll try my shot at warning the manager." Said Lester, not wasting any time. "You three can start searching the upper floors first; I'll catch up with you guys later."

And so it was decided.

Takuto, together with Kuromie (and Space Whale Jr.) and Prince Shiva, began searching the second floor, then the third. While they were searching the third floor, Lester met up with them.

"How'd it go?" asked Takuto, though he could already tell the answer just by looking at his friend's face.

"How do you think?" asked Lester, his face contorted in annoyance. "The owner didn't believe me, and threatened to throw me out of the gym if I kept 'spreading harmful rumors' about the bomb."

"Ah, well, there's nothing we can do about that now, except to search the gym as stealthily as we can." Said Takuto, continuing to search the gym equipment.

He came to a stop at an exercise bike, and studied it carefully. Unfortunately, there was a well-bodied woman on it, and when she saw Takuto snooping around the bike, she got off and slapped him, right before leaving in a huff.

"Hey, it's not like I was checking you out, or something!" said Takuto, holding the side of his face that had been slapped.

"…Takuto, just shut up. You're making it worse…" said Lester, sighing, as he noticed that most of the people on the current floor had turned to look at them strangely.

"Sorry!" replied Takuto, grinning.

"How can you still be so cheerful in a situation like this?"

"I dunno, that's just who I am!"

"Of course…"

The G.A.G. (and Shiva) continued to search for the bomb throughout the fourth and fifth stories, but to no avail. They simply could not find the bomb. The G.A.G. were currently on the fifth story of the gym, which was the rooftop.

"Argh, where IS that stupid bomb?(!)" shouted Lester angrily. He had been pacing back on forth on the rooftop anxiously. "I don't think Guinness would be smart enough to hide it THIS well."

"Oh no, what will do now?" asked Kuromie, whose face was full of worry. Even the usually fearless Shiva looked somewhat scared now.

"Well, if worse comes to worse…" said Takuto, who was leaning on a railing. "Then we must evacuate Prince Shiva first."

"But what about all those innocent people in the gym?" said Kuromie, eyes wide.

Takuto was silent.

"We could try to evacuate them, but with only ten minutes to spare, I don't think we will be quick enough." Said Lester, biting on his lower lip.

Shiva looked at the ground, horrified. Kuromie hugged Space Whale Jr. tightly. Takuto put his head in his arms. Lester punched the railing angrily.

"We must find that bomb!" said Lester. "Knowing how stupid Guinness, he probably hid the bomb in a closet, or something!"

"Yeah, and knowing how lazy he is, he probably hid it on the first floor." Put in Takuto, smiling weakly.

"Huh, how'd you know?(!)" came Guinness's voice from the wrist devices.

"Hey, don't go giving it away, you idiot!" said Riserva's voice sharply.

Takuto and Lester looked at each other in surprise. So did Kuromie and Shiva.

Lester turned to look at Kuromie.

"I thought you said that you already searched the whole first floor!"

"We did!" replied Kuromie. He fell silent for a while, then his face paled. "Oh no!"

"We forgot about that stupid locked door!" cried Shiva, doing a facepalm.

"Yes, there was this storage room that was locked—we were going to check it again later, when you two came, but…" said Kuromie, his voice faltering.

"We forgot…" finished Shiva dejectedly.

Without a moment to lose, the two older members rushed down the stairs, and the two younger members followed quickly. Within a few minutes, they were on the ground floor again.

"Hey, what's all this racket?(!)" cried the manager of the gym, who emerged from his office angrily.

Lester came to a stop in front of a door marked, "storage room."

"Is this the locked door?" asked Lester. Kuromie nodded quickly. Lester steadied himself and prepared a kick.

"Hey, what are you-!" shouted the manager, but a loud "crash!" interrupted him as Lester swiftly kicked the door open.

"Look, it's the bomb!" cried Takuto, pointing.

Everyone, including the manager, started at it in stunned silence, as the counter counted down:

3…

2…

1…

Zero.

**To Be Continued!**

**More Notes:**

1. _"And he's gay." Said Lester, vehemently. _No, I don't think Camus is gay. (That would be funny, though, wouldn't it?) Camus is straight. I can tell because he flirts with Milfie. (And acts all… stalker-ish about her too.)

2. _"I still remember that he hit me with one when we were in that play…"_ Re-read chapter eight if you don't remember.

3. _Takuto went back to staring at the wires; this time, with his trusty Swiss Army Knife out in his hand._ …Okay, I don't know if he actually has one, but he DOES seem like the type of guy to carry one around, right?

4. _All three G.A.G. members looked down at their wrist devices in surprise._ Uh, yeah; I pretty much call them "wrist devices" for the rest of this storyline. I didn't know what else to call them! I couldn't call them "watches" because Camus already said that they weren't watches, and even if he didn't, they AREN'T.

5. _"SECRET AGENT MAAAAN!"_ …Forgive me, I couldn't resist. (It's a song, by the way.)

6. _Pentagram:_ A star, basically. Look it up if you want specifics.

7. _Pentagram drawing explanation:_ Yes, I know it was confusing, but it was even HARDER to write! I'm sure most of you know how to draw a pentagram in one stroke, anyway…

**Character Bio!**

Shiva Transbaal:

Age: 10

Height: Uh, the producers don't specify… But I think around Mint's and Vanilla's height. (Shiva is still a kid, after all.)

Job: Currently holds the title of "Prince"; since Shiva is the last remaining member of the royal Transbaal family, Shiva will become "King" soon. (Eonia is part of the Transbaal family too, but he doesn't count since he's been exiled. …And yes, Eonia and Shiva are related… Eonia is Shiva's half-brother. Yes, Eonia's dad cheated—(smacked for getting too deep into spoiler territory))

Looks: Shiva has dark blue hair (kind of like Takuto's, except more visibly blue); and the same colored eyes. Shiva's eyes are kind of cat-like compared to the other characters (since Shiva's pupils are narrower than usual). Shiva has two outfits—the royal garment type, and the more casual type, that's used most in the manga and is used in my fanfic. It's a really fancy robe-type thing with the colors being white and blue. It's pretty frilly too, and Shiva also wears white pants underneath. …I wish I were better at describing clothes… Oh yeah! Shiva also has this headband thing too, placed over the forehead. It's blue, looks kind of like it was made out of metal, and has a big red round jewel in the middle of it. Wow, I think Shiva's outfit description is the longest out of all the other characters…

Personality: Shiva starts off kind of… anti-social. That is, until Takuto arrived on the scene. After meeting Takuto, Shiva's opened up a lot more, and reveals a more childish side. Don't get me wrong, though. Shiva's still acts very seriously and maturely (due to the whole "king" business). Shiva also has a rather mischievous side, which shows itself most often near Takuto. Shiva's very fond of Takuto too.

My opinion: Argh, there's not much I can say without giving away too many spoilers, so I won't say much. Shiva does get more time in the manga than MOST secondary characters (due to the character's importance). But Shiva's a very likable character, and very easy to sympathize with, so that's not a bad thing.

**MAJOR SPOILERS FOR GA BETA VOL 2, DON'T READ THIS UNTIL YOU'VE READ THAT VOLUME! (Unless you WANT to be spoiled… Just go to the next chapter if you want to skip the spoilers.)**

**SPOILER**

**SPOILER**

**SPOILER**

…Okay, I think that's enough warning. Before I go on, though, please don't talk about this in the comments section. (Don't spoil it for those who haven't gotten that far in the manga series!)

So… Here we go!

Yes, Shiva is ACTUALLY a girl. You heard me. A girl. (They say it straight out in volume 2 of GA Beta.) Which is why (if you've noticed), I've been trying to refer to Shiva in the neutral form, like not calling him a "he". (I bet you noticed that the most in her character bio, though. THAT was hard to write…)

Yeah, I probably called Shiva a "he" in the earlier chapters, but I'm too busy to go over and fix it now. (I'm not lazy—I swear! (nervous glances)) That was before GA Beta even came out, so of course I had no idea.

Oh yeah, since I'm already in spoiler territory, I'll tell you another secret—Shiva is actually the Moon Goddess's daughter. …Yes, Shatoyan's daughter. LE GASP!

You see, Eonia's dad actually had an… affair with the Moon Goddess. Scandalous! (Okay, I'll stop being annoying, now…) And so, Shiva was born. Because of her heritage, Shiva does have some powers of the Moon Goddess, but it's never really shown in the manga (except the power to open the entrance to the White Moon where the Moon Goddess resides). …But of course, if you haven't gotten that far in the series, this probably just sounds like gibberish to you, right?

**END SPOILERS**

Well, on to the next chapter! (And the final Character Bio!)


	21. Ep 21, Angels Don't Need Wings to Fly

**Legal Stuff:** I don't own Galaxy Angel.

**Notes: **Last chapter of this storyline, whoo! And yes, you know I've run out of creative title ideas when I start making up titles that have absolutely no connection to the chapter. …Okay, maybe there's SOME connection, but not much. (But, but, the title just sounded so pretty!)

**Angels Don't Need Wings To Fly**

"Nooo!" cried Lester, jumping back, as Kuromie grabbed Prince Shiva and ducked behind a nearby desk.

"I'm too young to die!" cried Takuto, falling over backwards.

"Mommy!" cried the gym manager, cowering.

The bomb beeped a few times, then fell silent. A few seconds passed, without anyone saying a word. From their spot, Kuromie and Shiva looked at each other puzzled, as Lester hesitantly bent down to inspect the bomb closer.

Takuto, who had had his hands clamped over his eyes, slowly got up, and let his hands fall from his face.

"Am I in heaven?" he asked dreamily. Then, spying Lester, he cried, "OH GOD, WHY ARE YOU HERE?(!)"

Lester glared at him.

"You're not dead yet, Takuto." Said Lester vehemently. "…And what do you mean by, _'why are you here?'_"

"Uh, well…" sputtered Takuto, trying to walk away, but Lester had grabbed hold of Takuto's cape and dragged him back roughly, nearly choking the commander.

"Shouldn't we worry about this later?" asked Kuromie, sweatdropping as he approached the two older members. He and Shiva had come out from under the desk. Shiva was poking the gym manager, who seemed to have fainted. Lester let go of Takuto's cape reluctantly.

"When this is over, we'll discuss this—got it?" said Lester, angrily.

"Yes, sir!" responded Takuto. "Now, why didn't the bomb go off?"

Space Whale Jr. was hovering near the bomb and mewing. Lester went over to it and inspected the bomb more carefully.

"Oh, I see." Said Lester finally. "That idiot didn't even connect the timing device to the bomb, so of course it didn't go off."

Back with the Hell Hounds…

Both Vermouth and Riserva did a facepalm, Camus shook his head sadly, Red Eye was silent, and Guinness just stared at the screen in dismay.

Back with the G.A.G….

"I guess we're pretty lucky, then!" said Takuto, cheerfully.

"The only thing that was 'lucky' was the fact that Guinness is so stupid." Said Lester, flatly.

"Look, an incoming message!" shouted Shiva, pointing to Takuto's wrist device. It was Red Eye this time.

"I think you guys already know the drill by now." Said Red Eye's voice, calmly. "Since my teammates have failed so miserably, I won't be so kind with my hints. All I will say is that the bomb is somewhere in the park nearby. It is ultra sensitive, and will go off if there is too much movement around it. It is connected to various other bombs located around the park, but you only need to deactivate the main bomb to shut them all down."

"Um, is there anything else we need to know?" asked Takuto sweetly, trying to get some more information out of Red Eye. Unfortunately, he saw through it.

"I am not giving you any more hints." He said, his tone somewhat angry.

"Please?" pleaded Takuto.

"…Fine. Not that it will help much. The bomb is not located in the middle of the park, nor is it hidden in any building or thing that is even remotely noticeable. You have 56 minutes remaining. I suggest you be on your way."

"Alright, we don't have time to lose!" panted Takuto.

The G.A.G. and Prince Shiva had arrived at the park. They had run there after Red Eye's had transmission ended. It was a lovely green park, with many trees and tables scattered about. Kids and parents alike were playing in the park, and there was a birthday party nearby.

"This park is huge! Where are we supposed to start?(!)" asked Kuromie, also panting and out of breath.

"Well, Red Eye said that the bomb is not in the middle of the park…" continued Takuto, going over to map of the park and taking out a black marker. He put a large "x" in the middle of the map. "And it's not in any buildings, so…" He crossed out all the buildings.

"Takuto, isn't that vandalism?(!)" cried Kuromie.

"I don't think that really matters right now…" said Lester calmly.

Takuto stood back and surveyed the map quickly.

"Alright, the best route to take is to split up and take the path around the park." Said Takuto. "Hopefully, we'll find something."

"_Hopefully_?" asked Lester, unconvinced. Takuto shrugged.

"It's the best we can do…"

"Shouldn't we notify the park rangers?" suggested Shiva. Takuto shook his head.

"It would cost too much of our time that could be used to try and locate the bomb. Let's go!"

And so, the four split up—Takuto and Kuromie going one way, and Lester and Shiva going the other.

"What are we looking for, exactly?" asked Kuromie, who was trying to look everywhere at once. Space Whale Jr. was by his side.

"Well, Red Eye said that it wasn't in anything noticeable, so my bet is that it is somewhere in the ground." Said Takuto, who was behind Kuromie.

"Great!" said Kuromie, throwing up his hands. "So how are we supposed to find it then?"

"With this!" said Takuto, holding a metal detector triumphantly.

"Wh-where'd you get that?(!)"

"I borrowed it." Said Takuto, grinning.

"That's great, but we don't even know if the bombs contain any metal in them…" sighed Kuromie.

"On the contrary, I've located many bombs already."

"What?(!)" cried Kuromie. "Then why didn't you tell me?(!)"

Takuto grimaced.

"Oh, sorry. I was a too busy concentrating on finding the main bomb."

Kuromie rolled his eyes at this.

"I suppose you haven't found the main bomb, yet?" he asked.

"No, because all the bombs I've found only had one wire attached to them."

"Then we could've just followed the wires to the main bomb!"

"That's what I thought, but the wire goes down into the ground, and it's almost impossible to trace them."

Here, the two team members sighed in unison. Kuromie took a quick glance at his watch.

"We only have thirty minutes remaining!" he cried.

"Don't panic!" commanded Takuto. "Panicking will only make the situation worse."

The metal detector beeped crazily.

"Oh, that means it's found the mother load!" cried Takuto happily, running ahead of Kuromie in the direction of the loudest beep.

Kuromie had to run to catch up to Takuto. When he did, Takuto was standing at the edge of a lake.

"Hmm, the origin of the beeping seems to stop here?" said Takuto, as Kuromie approached him.

Takuto moved the metal detector back and forth, but it just kept getting weaker, instead of stronger. Kuromie studied it a moment longer, then grabbed the metal detector and held it over the surface of the lake. The beeping sounded louder than ever.

"Oh ho, so the bomb is in the lake!" said Takuto, clapping his hands together. "Good work, Kuromie!"

"We still don't know for sure that there's a bomb there, though." Said Kuromie. "We need to be careful. If what Red Eye says is true, then a large enough disturbance in the lake will cause the bomb to go off. Space Whale Jr., can you check it out for us?"

The space whale calf gave a "mew" and dove into the lake. Takuto and Kuromie waited a few moments before the calf reappeared again.

"Mew, mew!" went Space Whale Jr. Takuto looked questioningly at Kuromie, who nodded. There was indeed a bomb at the bottom of the lake.

"Okay, I'll call Creta, then." Said Takuto, dialing a number on the Chrono Crystal. Creta picked it up right away.

"I'm glad you're still alive, Takuto!" said Creta. "When I didn't hear from you guys for so long, I thought you all died!"

"Well, we're on our fourth bomb already, and we need your help." Said Takuto, quickly, before Creta could jabber on. Asking for Space Whale Jr.'s assistance again, they showed her the underwater bomb.

"Wow, an underwater bomb!" said Creta, when Space Whale Jr. brought up the crystal. "I didn't think Red Eye was so smart!"

"Yeah, so how do we diffuse it?" interrupted Takuto, quite rudely; but the situation called for it.

"Well," started Creta; "I'm sure that if you just disconnected it from all the other bombs, everything will be okay."

"But that won't stop the main bomb from exploding!" cried Kuromie.

"True, but remember—it's already underwater, so I'm sure it won't cause much damage."

"And we really don't have much of a choice, with only twenty minutes remaining." Said Takuto, sadly. "Alright, thanks Creta!"

"Anytime!" said Creta, before hanging up.

"Okay, we should really start diffusing the bomb." Said Takuto, putting the Chrono Crystal back on his uniform front. "I'd diffuse it myself, but…"

"You're too big." Finished Kuromie. "Your weight and body mass with disturb the lake too much, and that might cause the bomb to go off." Kuromie sighed. "I guess, I'm the only one, huh?"

"…I'm sorry." Said Takuto.

"It's alright. I must do this, to save this park and all the people in it."

Here, Kuromie tried his best to look confident, though Takuto could still see the fear in his eyes. Takuto gave him a smile of encouragement, and Space Whale Jr. mewed in agreement.

"Alright." Sighed Kuromie. "I guess we better go and diffuse all the bombs now, eh Jr.? Takuto, can you lend me your Swiss Army Knife… And Jr., I'll need you to show me where the bomb is."

Takuto handed Kuromie the knife, and Kuromie grabbed onto Space Whale Jr. With that, they both plunged into the murky green depths of the lake. Underwater, Kuromie could see the bomb—it was a large round mass composed of many wires going outwards; towards the other bombs scattered about the park no less. Kuromie studied it carefully, then made Space Whale Jr. go back up to the surface so he could take a breath of air. After taking a in a deep breath, Kuromie went down to the bomb once again. This time, he slowly started cutting a few of the wires nearest him. Takuto watched from the shore anxiously.

Since Kuromie was only human, he had to come up many times for air. As the time went on, he had to come up more and more because he was getting tired. After taking in his twentieth breath of air, Lester and Shiva came upon the lake.

"What's going on?" asked Lester to Takuto. "And where's Kuromie?"

Takuto quickly explained what had happened, and Lester nodded gravely.

"So that's why we didn't find anything…" said Lester. "All the bombs were underground…"

"Will Kuromie be okay?" asked Shiva worriedly.

"Don't worry; he's a member of the G.A.G.! Of course he'll be fine!" said Takuto, trying to lighten everyone's spirits. "How are you doing over there?" asked Takuto, as Kuromie came up for air once more.

"There's only one more wire left…" said Kuromie, panting. "Oh no!"

This "Oh no!" was because he had dropped the Swiss Army Knife that he had been holding.

"Now what?" asked Kuromie, worriedly. "It'll take forever to find the thing down there-!"

But he was interrupted by a loud "splash!" as Prince Shiva dived into the lake.

"Prince Shiva!" cried all three G.A.G. members in unison.

The lake bubbled and quivered where Shiva had dove in. The G.A.G. held their places, motionless; until the familiar blue-haired head popped up out of the water.

"Your highness!" said Takuto relieved, as Shiva bobbed near the middle of the lake, holding the Swiss Army Knife in hand. "Wait—Your highness!" cried Takuto, as Shiva dived under again.

After a moment's silence, Shiva's head appeared, next to Kuromie this time.

"There! I cut the last wire for you!" said Shiva, triumphantly. From the shore, Takuto and Lester looked at each other unconvinced. "What, you don't believe me?(!)"

"No, it's not that we don't believe you…" said Takuto, quickly, sweatdropping.

"Please, just come back to shore, your highness…" Put in Lester, exasperated. "And where in the world did you learn to swim like that?"

"Well, what else did you think I do for fun on the Elle Ciel?" asked Shiva. Lester just stared at Shiva open-mouthed.

Kuromie brought Shiva back to the shore, as Space Whale Jr. checked out the bomb. Prince Shiva was still a bit miffed that the two older members were so disbelieving, though.

"So, are all the wires cut now, Jr.?" asked Kuromie, as the space whale calf hopped out of the lake.

Space Whale Jr. gave a "mew!" in the affirmative.

"See?" said Shiva, angrily. "You can count on me to help!"

"Now what do we do?" asked Kuromie.

"We run." Said Lester, looking at his watch. "We only have five minutes left—we should put as much distance between us and the bomb as possible! Let's go!"

The Galaxy Angel Guys (along with Prince Shiva), quickly ran towards the entrance of the park. As soon as they reached it, they heard a loud "bang!" and "gurgle!" in the distance. Park goers looked about themselves in worry. The G.A.G. strained to hear any more explosions. Hearing none, all of them sat down on the grass, relieved.

"Well, that takes care of that." Said Takuto. "Now all we need to worry about is the fifth and final bomb."

"Don't think you've beaten us yet!" came Vermouth's voice from the wrist devices. "You still have my bomb to find!"

"We already know that; just tell us where to go." Said Lester, impatiently.

"Fine!" replied Vermouth, in the same tone. "It's in the fairground next to the park you guys are in. But that's all I will say!" With that, Vermouth disconnected.

"Wait, did he say that the next bomb is in the fairground next to us?" said Kuromie worriedly.

"Yeah, why?" asked Takuto.

Kuromie and Shiva exchanged worried glances.

"When we were in the gym, searching for the third bomb while you guys rushed over," started Shiva; "We heard that there was a big carnival going on today, near the park…"

Now it was Takuto's and Lester's turn to exchange worried glances. The four quickly went out of the park, and what they saw made their hearts sink into their stomachs.

There was indeed a large carnival going on next to the park. Like a usual carnival, it had rides, game booths of all sorts, various tents scattered about, and food stalls. It was teeming with people—parents with their kids, mostly, but also a few couples here and there.

"Oh goddesses, what are we going to do now, Takuto?" asked Lester.

"I don't think it'd be smart to warn them that a bomb is in their midst, that's for sure." Said Takuto, racking his brains. "That would not only cause a big ruckus and make it hard to search for the bomb, but it might also disturb the bomb in the process."

"Vermouth's not answering…" said Kuromie, who had been fidgeting with his wrist device. "So I think he's informed enough now not to let us have any more hints…"

"But then that means the bomb could be ANYWHERE!" cried Shiva, waving his arms around.

"Then that's only more reason not to waste any time." Said Takuto, gravely.

"So you're suggesting that we search the WHOLE place in just under an hour?" said Lester, skeptical.

"We have no choice…" replied Takuto. "Alright—Shiva, you go with Kuromie. It'd be safer that way. Don't give me that face…" said Takuto, as Shiva pouted. "You two can search all the rides. You should probably start with the Ferris wheel; it will give you a good view of the whole carnival. Lester, you can search all the tents. I'll search the booths and food stalls."

With that, the G.A.G. broke up to begin their search for the final bomb.

"I don't see anything suspicious from up here." Said Kuromie, into the watch that Luft had given the G.A.G. for their very first mission. Kuromie and Shiva were in the Ferris wheel that Takuto had mentioned. Kuromie had taken up the left and front windows, while Shiva took up the right and back windows.

"That's because you can't see ANYTHING from here." Said Shiva, annoyed. "The people all look like little multi-colored ants, and the tents all look like weird flowers."

Back on the ground, Lester was going through one of the tents marked, "Hall of Mirrors."

"No wonder I used to hate carnivals when I was a kid…" mumbled Lester, bumping roughly into a mirror. "Damn it!"

Outside, Takuto was checking out the booths, and trying to fit in at the same time. Which was rather hard to do, considering that he was still wearing his captain's uniform.

"Ah, I should have brought some spare clothes…" said Takuto, sweatdropping as people in the crowd all stared at him weirdly. He was currently leaning against a milk jug game booth.

"So, you gonna play, or what?" asked the teenage girl who ran the booth, impatiently.

"Ah, sure, I'll play…" said Takuto, taking out a few bills. "It would look suspicious if I didn't play a few games…" thought Takuto.

The girl who ran the booth quickly took the bills, and handed Takuto a fistful of coins. The aim of the game was to toss the coins into the milk jugs, which wasn't an easy task, as the mouths of the milk jugs were very narrow. You had to have thrown the coin at exactly the right angle to get it in.

Takuto studied the coins for a second, then noticed the little girl who had been standing next to him all this time. She had shoulder-length auburn hair with a black hair band set in the middle of her head. Her eyes were a dark blue, and she was wearing a little pink sundress. She looked about nine. Aiming, she threw a coin at one of the milk jugs, but it just bounced off the top.

"Aww, that was my last coin…" said the girl sadly, searching through her pockets for money to buy more coins to toss.

"Hey little girl, don't you know that this is one of the hardest games to win?" said Takuto, softly.

"Yes, but it has the best prizes!" said the girl, pointing towards the prizes in question. Takuto looked up at the plushies hanging from the ceiling of the booth. Indeed, compared to the other booths, these stuffed toys were of a much better quality than the usual.

"Ah, I see…" said Takuto.

"Oh, by the way, my name is Amy!" said the girl, doing a curtsey.

"My name is Takuto!" said Takuto cheerfully. "Where are your parents?" Here, he looked around.

"Ah, they're over there, taking care of my baby brother." Said Amy, pointing to a nearby food stall, where the two parents were fussing over the baby. "Hmm, I guess I don't have any money left to buy any more coins…" continued the girl, holding out her empty pockets sadly.

Here Takuto turned to face the milk jugs, and with the flick of the wrist, easily landed a coin in one of the milk jugs. Taking more coins in hand, he landed all of them neatly into the jugs.

"Wow, you're really good at this, mister!" said Amy, clapping her hands in joy. Other people near the booth had stopped to watch now too.

Takuto continued flicking coins until they were all gone.

"Uh, congrats!" said the teenage girl running the both. She was very surprised. "No one's ever been able to shoot all fifteen coins into the jugs!"

"I used to play this game a lot when I was a kid." Said Takuto, shrugging.

"Well, you can choose your prize from this shelf." Said the teenager, waving her hand towards the back wall, near a high corner—the place where the most expensive prizes where kept. There were all sorts of plushies, in all sorts of animal shapes. There were the usual bears, and also ponies, octopi, and puppies. Takuto looked at the where the Amy's eyes had landed, and spied; hidden almost completely by a large stuffed bear; a little pink bunny plush.

"I'll take that one." Said Takuto, smiling as he pointed to the plush.

The teenager took down the pink bunny and handed it to Takuto, upon which Takuto immediately handed it to the little girl, Amy.

"Oh! Are you sure you want to give this to me?" asked Amy, who was already hugging the bunny plush tightly.

"Yes, I'm much too old for stuffed animals, anyway!" said Takuto, putting it aside lightly. "Please, take it." Here Takuto smiled, and the little girl flashed him a most radiant smile in return, before rushing off to her parent's side.

"That… was really sweet of you."

Takuto started at the voice, and turned around to see the teenager staring at him with soft eyes.

"Ah, it was nothing…" said Takuto, a little embarrassed. He looked down to stare at his hand. There was something strange that he just couldn't place his finger on…

The teenage girl ducked down and came back up holding a box in her hands. She opened it, and took out a white bunny plush with angel wings from it. Brushing off the dust hurriedly, she handed it to Takuto.

"Here." She said. "Take it. I'd feel bad not letting you get at least SOMETHING for winning."

"Why didn't you put this on the shelves?" asked Takuto, studying the plush.

"Well…" said the girl, looking a bit uncomfortable. "The truth is, I had wanted to keep it at first, but…" Here she shook her head. "I'm getting too old for stuffed animals too. So you can keep it, to give to another kid who needs cheering up."

"Thank you." Said Takuto, smiling.

"No, thank YOU." Said the girl, smiling back.

"Takuto, this isn't time for fun and games!"

This was said by an annoyed looking Lester, who had just come up from behind Takuto.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Lester." Said Takuto, sweatdropping. "But I wasn't just playing games—honest!"

"Yeah, yeah…" said Lester, tugging Takuto away from the booth by grabbing onto his cape. "We only have forty minutes until detonation; we don't have time to dawdle!"

The teenager who worked the booth stared at the two until they disappeared into the crowd, then shook her head in dismay.

"Takuto, what are we going to do?(!)" cried Kuromie, who was starting to become a bit hysterical. "We only have fifteen minutes left!"

The G.A.G. had met up again in the middle of the carnival. None of them had been successful in locating the bomb.

"Argh, it's much too late to re-search the whole place…" said Lester, running his hands through his white hair.

"And there's too many places where Vermouth could have hidden that bomb…" said Takuto, looking at his hands in thought.

"So, I'm guessing that Vermouth isn't giving us anymore hints?" asked Shiva.

Takuto shook his head.

"I've tried contacting him over a dozen times. But he's not picking up at all…"

"What can we associate with Vermouth?" asked Kuromie, trying out Takuto's tactic for Camus.

"All I can remember about that broccoli head is that weird pink bunny robot that he used to trap us with, back on the Black Moon." Said Lester.

"Takuto, what's wrong?(!)" cried Kuromie, seeing Takuto grip the railing he was leaning on suddenly.

"Oh, no…" muttered Takuto, sliding down into a sitting position. "Oh, no…"

In that instance Takuto knew where the bomb was. He remembered how, when handing the pink bunny plush to Amy, he had felt a faint ticking. He had only thought it was his imagination, but now he was sure of it.

"You what?(!)" cried Lester, after Takuto had explained everything. "You gave that bunny with the bomb in it to a little girl?(!)"

"I didn't know that there was a bomb in it at the time!" cried Takuto, who was still sitting on the ground. "But now I've sealed her fate with my own hands…"

"Takuto, don't talk like that!" put in Kuromie, worriedly. He had never seen Takuto acting so pessimistic before.

Shiva slapped Takuto in the face.

"Your highness?(!)" gasped Lester and Kuromie.

"Takuto…" said Shiva, whose voice was quivering. "All the time that I've been with you, you were never the type to have given up so easily. If it were really you, then you would have said, 'We must find that bomb and destroy it before it explodes! We can do it!'"

"Your highness…" said Takuto, looking up, and seeing that Shiva's eyes were filled with tears. With that, he stood up, a determined look returning to his face.

"We must find that bomb and destroy it before it explodes! We can do it!" shouted Takuto. "How was that, your highness?" Takuto smiled down at Shiva, and Shiva returned the smile weakly.

"Alright, alright. This is getting way too mushy…" said Lester, sweatdropping.

"Yes, but the problem we have now is; how in the world are we going to find that girl?" asked Kuromie.

"I don't think we'd have enough time to get on the Ferris wheel again…" said Shiva, quickly wiping away stray tears.

Takuto clutched the necklace the Moon Goddess had given him out of anxiety. In his mind, a picture of a big top formed.

"Aha!" said Takuto suddenly. "The circus tent!"

"What?(!)" cried Lester. "You think she's there? How can you be sure?'

"I just feel it in my soul!" said Takuto, running towards the tent.

"…Well that's just great." Said Lester, sarcastically. Kuromie and Shiva had already run after Takuto. Lester started running to catch up with them too.

Takuto, who had a head start, reached the circus tent first. However, he didn't go in. Instinct told him to go around to the back. When Takuto had walked to the area behind the tent, he was surprised to see a crowd of people gathered there. Shoving his way into the midst, he saw two men standing near a large cannon.

"For my next trick," started one of the men. He was wearing a jumpsuit and helmet, and had a curly mustache. "I will be shot from this cannon!"

There were many "ooh"s and "ahh"s from the crowd.

"So, was your intuition correct?" asked Lester, who had also pushed his way into the clearing. Kuromie and Shiva were behind him.

Takuto scanned the crowd, and his eyes fell on a pink sundress.

"Amy!" cried Takuto, noticing the girl, who was still holding the pink bunny in her arms.

"Ah, it's you, mister!" said the girl, running up to Takuto. "What's wrong?" she asked, noticing that Takuto was frowning.

"Takuto, what are you waiting for?(!)" said Lester, looking quickly at his watch. "We don't have time to lose!"

"…I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to take back that bunny plush…" said Takuto. "It's… complicated."

The girl studied him for a moment, then handed him the plushie.

"Don't worry, mister. I understand." She said, folding her hands behind her, a sad smile on her face.

"Thank you." Said Takuto, taking back the toy.

"Um, we only have 2 minutes left…" said Kuromie, his voice faltering as he stared at his watch.

Takuto looked about him quickly. Noticing the cannon, he hurriedly formed an idea.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to have to borrow this…" said Takuto, quickly shoving the stuntman out of the way as he was preparing to get into the cannon.

"Hey, what are you doing?(!)" cried the stuntman angrily, seeing Takuto push something into the very back of the cannon. "This is MY show!"

"Please shoot the cannon into the air!" commanded Takuto, to the man who was manning the cannon. The man shrugged, and lit the cannon. He aimed it straight into the air, and stepped aside. So did everyone else in the crowd. The wick burned out, and after a moment's silence, the cannon shot what appeared to be a pink bunny plush high into the air. The plushie hovered in midair for only a second, whereupon it exploded with a loud "boom!"

The crowd went wild, thinking it was all part of the show. The G.A.G., however, were relieved.

"Um, I think she wants to talk to you…" said Lester, poking Takuto and pointing to the little girl. Amy looked Takuto straight in the eyes, and he knew that she knew what had really happened.

"Ah, well…" started Takuto, scratching his head. "I'm really sorry for your stuffed toy…"

"It's alright, mister! I understand..." Said Amy, though she did look slightly sad.

Takuto showed her the white angel bunny plush, and her face lit up.

"D-do you mean…" started Amy, her hands already reaching up towards the plush.

"Yes, you can keep it." Said Takuto, smiling. "It's my gift of apology."

"Oh, thank you, mister!" said the girl, hugging the plush and curtsying again.

"Takuto, we have to go." Said Lester, looking around. "I don't think it would be good for our reputation if we are discovered to be the cause of all this commotion."

"Oh, alright…" said Takuto, reluctantly. He gave one last parting wave to the girl, before disappearing into the crowd after Lester, Kuromie, and Shiva.

Back at their undisclosed location, the Hell Hounds looked at each other in dismay.

"What," started Riserva, turning to Vermouth; "Is it with you and _pink bunnies_?"

"S-shut up!" shouted Vermouth angrily, blushing heavily.

"Well, your plan failed miserably." Continued Riserva, turning to Camus this time, who was slowly tearing petals from the rose in his hand, one by one.

"Ah, but remember, that was all just a ploy to tire them out." Said Camus, smiling coldly. "It would have been nice if they had been killed by the bombs, but the real fun begins now. After all, isn't it much more rewarding to be able to kill them with our own hands? Don't forget, they've also been kind enough to bring the prince with them."

"Prince Shiva…" said Riserva slowly. "Lord Eonia would like that, wouldn't he?"

"Yeah, and Lady Sherry too!" put in Guinness.

"…" went Red Eye, who just watched the screen, as the G.A.G. exited the fairgrounds.

"Amy, there you are!" cried a man, running up to the little girl. A woman holding a baby was behind him.

"Daddy! Mommy!" cried Amy happily, running into the open arms of her father.

"Next time, please don't run away from our sight!" scolded her mother, still holding the cooing baby in her arms.

"I'm sorry…" said Amy, who _was_ truly sorry.

"At least everything's alright now." Said Amy's father, a look of relief on his face. "Oh, where did you get that angel bunny stuffed toy? Didn't you have a pink bunny toy before?"

"My guardian angel gave it to me!" said the girl, happily.

"Did he have wings?" asked Amy's mother, playing along.

"No, he didn't." replied Amy.

"But all angels have wings!" said her father, also playing along. "How else can they fly?"

To this, Amy replied giggling;

"Silly! Angels don't need wings to fly!"

**To Be Continued…**

**More Notes:**

1. _Plushie:_ A stuffed toy, basically.

2. _"All I can remember about that broccoli head is that weird pink bunny robot that he used to trap us with, back on the Black Moon."_ _Said Lester._ Refer back to chapter 13 if you've forgotten. And yes, I know it was Noa who actually used it to capture the G.A.G., but Lester's currently too worried about the bomb to notice his mistake.

**Character Bio!**

Moon Goddess Shatoyan:

Gender: Female

Age: Unknown

Job: The Moon Goddess, obviously. Okay, to be more specific, she's actually more of a symbolic figure. The people look to her for hope. She resides on the White Moon, giving out gifts of technology to needy planets—if I remember correctly…

Looks: Shatoyan has long hair tied with ribbons at some points. It is light green with a hint of blue. Her eyes are a purple color, with a hint of blue. She wears a very intricate robe (it's very frilly, with long sleeves constantly covering her hands), and a big head-dress that has a large plaque on it. The head-dress also has a thin greenish veil that goes over Shatoyan's face. Her skin is very also very pale.

Personality: Shatoyan is a very kind person, and she acts as sort of a mother figure to everyone. Despite her high position, she isn't haughty, nor does she look down on others. She's a very loving person.

My opinion: Shatoyan has got to be one of the most beautiful characters I've seen. Kanan really went all out on her… She's also a very likable character, so it's a pity that she doesn't show up much in the manga.

If you've read vol. 3 of GA Beta, you'll also find out her secret…

Which I'm not going to disclose here. (Because I'm evil that way.)

**See you, next time!**


	22. Ep 22, Ambush!

**Legal Stuff:** I do not own Galaxy Angel, etc.

**Notes:** Once again, I have let another year (two in fact…) pass by before updating (shame on me!). The sad truth was, my Galaxy Angel obsession had been really waning as of late, which meant I didn't have much inspiration/motivation to keep writing (even though I DID have most of the last chapters planned.) However, upon re-reading all my chapters (partially so I could remember the plot and jokes I've already used), my inspiration has been re-kindled, and I promise to finish off this series with a bang.

This has been my first and longest running fanfic on this site. Because of the length of time it took me to actually write each chapter, one can notice a huge difference in writing style between chapters. Reading my earlier chapters was actually pretty painful… But in the end, I was glad I wrote this fanfic, and actually got this far. It's a really good way of seeing how I've improved over the years. I took the effort to revise my earlier chapters; mostly fixing spelling/grammar errors, re-wording sentences to make them clearer, etc. Don't worry; I haven't changed the plot of any of my chapters, just improved on them. Also… I can't believe I spelt "OOC" as "OCC" for so long… ugh. I feel embarrassed for that now, especially since it took so long for me to catch it. (Out of character = OOC; not OCC!)

Also, another error that made me do a double take was one from chapter 19… "He inserted the dick into a slot at the front of the Elle Ciel, and a screen flashed." IT WAS SUPPOSED TO SAY "DISK." I can't believe I didn't catch that the first time! Orz. Good thing that this fanfic is already rated 13 and up or else that would have been… awkward.

Well, I've done enough rambling here so let's begin! I'm going to end this fanfic with a bang!

**Ambush!**

"I still can't believe... that we actually made it out alive..." said Takuto, wiping the sweat from his brow.

He and the other G.A.G. members and Prince Shiva were sitting on the ground outside the carnival fairgrounds, not wanting to get caught by the carnival guards for their little "disruption" just a few minutes ago.

"Yeah... I can't believe we just defused five bombs in about five hours." added Kuromie, who was holding Space Whale Jr. tightly in his arms.

"Some people get by their entire life without having to deal with a single bomb..." muttered Lester, somewhat annoyed. "...And yet we've seen enough bombs to last a lifetime in just one DAY."

"Soooo..." started Shiva, looking around cautiously. "What do we do now? Did we win?"

"The game's not over yet, Galaxy Angel Guys." said a voice coming from the wristbands which the G.A.G. were still wearing. Each of the G.A.G. members looked at their respective wristband (Shiva had to look at Kuromie's).

The little screen on the wristband now showed a panned view of all the Hell Hounds, who had varying degrees of annoyance painted on their faces. The one who spoke first had been Red Eye.

"Now that the fun is over, it's time for us to get serious." said Riserva calmly, a hand on his hip.

"You mean you weren't SERIOUS before?" snorted Lester.

"Don't think you can get cocky with us!" shouted Vermouth angrily.

"Actually, I think they have every right to be cocky after what they di-" started Guinness, but upon receiving cold glares from his teammates, he stopped. "...Shutting up."

"So now what?" asked Takuto, taking command. "If a face-to-face fight is what you guys want, then just give us your location and we'll be there."

"Wait, isn't that dangerous?" whispered Kuromie, surprised at his commander's reckless claim.

"If we don't beat some sense into them now, they'll never stop hounding us-er, no pun intended." replied Lester quickly, pulling a face.

"Yes, and I'm afraid that they probably have a back-up plan to put more civilians in danger if we don't offer ourselves up." said Takuto, biting his lip.

"So that's it then?" said Shiva angrily, stomping a foot on the ground. "You're just going to sacrifice yourselves and become 'honorable martyrs?'"

"Hey now, I didn't say that." said Takuto, smiling.

"Like hell the Hell Hounds are going to kill me." said Lester, also smiling.

"...Are you guys serious?" butted in Kuromie, then in hushed tones; "What about the prince?"

"That's why only the two of us are going." said Lester, firmly.

"Wait, what?" It was Shiva's turn to be surprised. "I'm not coming along?"

"Of course not, your highness." said Takuto, very seriously. "As your guardians we can not endanger you."

"But..." started Shiva faltering, but was quickly interrupted by an enraged Hell Hound member.

"Hey!" shouted Vermouth. "What have you punks been talking about all this time? Don't act like we're chopped liver!"

"Sorry, sorry..." said Takuto, then, saying quickly to Kuromie; "Kuromie, please take Shiva back to the ship, and back to the base. Lester and I will deal with the Hell Hounds. Once you two get there, contact Luft so he can bring Shiva back to the Elle Ciel."

"But-!" cried Shiva, but seeing that it was no use, stopped mid-sentence and stared hard at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Prince Shiva..." said Takuto, softly, as Lester retrieved the coordinates from the Hell Hounds. "But your safety comes first."

"Okay, the Hell Hounds are in an abandoned factory warehouse just a ways from here." said Lester, pointing with his thumb to a lone building in the distance. Being set in the middle of a sandy wasteland, it wasn't too hard to find.

"Prince Shiva-er, your highness..." started Kuromie nervously. "If you would come with me..."

Shiva just gave a loud "HMPH!" and started walking ahead.

"Wait, do you even know the way to the spacepod?" cried Kuromie, walking quickly after the prince, with Space Whale Jr. floating behind.

"...Do you think they'll be alright..." said Lester, in a deadpan voice, raising an eyebrow at Takuto.

"...They'll be fine."

"Ugh, let's get this over quickly." said Lester, brushing the dust off of his pants. The two older members of the G.A.G. had finally made it to the building. It was indeed abandoned-and also very large. Takuto whistled as he craned his head to try to see the top.

"Just how big is this place, anyway?" asked Takuto. Lester shrugged.

"All I know is that this is supposed to have been a mechanical factory once..." said Lester, wiping a thick layer of dust off a broken sign nearby.

"...Producing what?"

"...I have no idea. And THAT is that part that worries me most."

The two men studied their surroundings for a bit longer. The factory was actually made up of many large buildings connected via arches and tunnels. The paint probably used to be a lustrous silver sheen, but it was now a faded and dull grey. The buildings didn't seem to have any windows, and seemed to be made of solid concrete. At the horizon, the sun was starting to set, casting a reddish-orange glow over Takuto and Lester.

"Well, the sooner we get started, the sooner we'll be done, right?" said Takuto, trying to raise the mood.

"Yes, but first..." here Lester took off his wristband, and snatched Takuto's wristband too. In one swift motion, he threw them to the ground, and crushed them with his foot.

"Ah! Noooooo!" wailed Vermouth, as two of the three screens he had been watching turned black.

"Eh, we'll be able to monitor them just fine with the cameras in this place." said Riserva, shrugging.

"But-but-DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THOSE THINGS COST?" shouted Vermouth with rage. "I spent most of my allowance on those things!"

"Ah, do not fret." said Camus simply. "We'll be able to replace them with the bonus we'll earn from destroying the Galaxy Angel Guys AND kidnapping Prince Shiva."

"And besides, at least there's still one left." motioned Riserva to the last screen. "And that's the only one that counts."

"Oooh, good idea, Lester!" said Takuto.

"Not that it really matters, as they'll probably have hacked the surveillance system in this old building too." muttered Lester. Takuto's face fell. "At LEAST they can't track our every movement now... I hope."

"So..." said Takuto, putting his hand on the door handle of a rusty door at the side of the building. "I guess this is... it?

"Just remember," sighed Lester; "that the moment we walk in that door, we'll be in enemy territory. They'll have the upper hand in there. We'd be lucky to leave here alive."

Takuto gulped. "I guess it's too late to back out now?"

"Well, YEAH. Not after that claim you made."

"Hmm... it probably wouldn't be very honorable either... to run away from a fight."

"As if the Hell Hounds care about things like HONOR." Lester spat.

"...Okay, I'm opening the door."

"I see."

"...I'm REALLY opening the door."

"Mm-hm."

"...I'm serious! I'm going to open this door!"

"..."

The door didn't move an inch.

"I am-" started Takuto again, but Lester cut him off.

"Just open the damn door already!"

"...Well, fine." With that, Takuto cautiously pushed the door ajar a crack. He peeked inside. "Hello? Is anyone in th-GAH!"

This "GAH!" was a result of Takuto quickly jumping back as Lester kicked the door open forcefully, causing it to slam against the wall on its hinges. The contact of metal against cement made a loud booming sound, which was then amplified by the rippling of echoes it caused throughout the empty building.

"What was THAT all about?(!)" cried Takuto, who was crouching and had his hands over his head.

"That was in case the Hell Hounds were planning to ambush us." said Lester simply.

"Well, warn me the next time you do that so I don't become an accidental casualty."

"...Sorry."

Takuto and Lester slowly stepped inside the building. It was cool and dark. The only light came from the glass ceiling, where the last few rays of the sun were streaming through. Lester flipped a switch nearby. There were rows of lamplights hanging from the ceiling, each turning on one by one.

"Wooooow... Is it possible for this place to look even bigger on the inside than the outside?" said Takuto, looking around. The two were standing on a raised platform, with stairs leading down.

"It's because half of this building appears to be underground..." said Lester, slowly testing out the stairs before taking it down. Takuto followed him.

"There are tons of doors and passageways here!" cried Takuto. "Not to mention all the rubble…" By that, Takuto meant the multitude of boxes and broken equipment piled around. "Man, we could probably get lost in here."

Lester calmly ripped off a map from a nearby blackboard. "I don't think anyone will be needing this." He said, as Takuto went over to look at the map over Lester's shoulder. Unfortunately, the map was old, and some areas of the map had completely faded out. Lester shrugged. "It's better than nothing."

"Which way should we take?" asked Takuto, eyeing the many doors and passageways leading away from the building.

"HEY HELL HOUNDS!" boomed Lester, his voice echoing throughout the empty building. "IF YOU WANT TO FIGHT US, COME ON OUT!"

Silence.

"Well, it was worth a shot." said Lester, shrugging again.

"Let's try heading towards the middle?" suggested Takuto, taking the map from Lester.

"That's easier said than done..." said Lester running a hand through his hair. "We don't even know what building we are in right now."

"Should we just try every passageway?"

"...Every SINGLE passageway?"

"...You're right, that could take days..."

The two stood there for a moment longer.

"Why don't we just pick a door and improvise from there." said Lester, getting impatient.

"Okay!" said Takuto happily. "Eenie meenie, miney mo-"

"You're seriously going to choose a door that way?(!)" said Lester, throwing his hands up into the air.

"Yes. Why not?"

Lester sighed and did a facepalm.

"How will they know which way to take to get to us?" said Riserva, looking at a screen on another side of the wall. This wall had screens showing various spots of the factory complex-the factory's security system.

"I'm trying to fix this loudspeaker panel to do just that!" said Vermouth angrily, who was wrestling with a tangle of wires.

"You know..." said Riserva, turning to Camus. "You could HELP US with SOMETHING." Camus was reclining on some crates.

"...Eh, too much work." he replied casually. Riserva narrowed his eyes at him, then went over and kicked the stack of crates upon which Camus was lying.

"HEY!" cried Camus, tumbling down along with the crates. Vermouth snorted from his spot amidst the wires.

"Get your LAZY ASS up and DO SOMETHING." commanded Riserva.

"Just who is the leader here, little boy?" said Camus, haughtily, standing up to full height.

"My my, having fun, are we?"

The three Hell Hound members froze in their spots, then began turning their heads every which way, looking for the source of the voice.

"That sounded like..." said Riserva, his face paling.

"Noa!" shouted Vermouth, pointing towards a high ceiling beam.

And indeed it was. Noa, in her signature white leotard, was laying on her stomach on one of the many ceiling beams that criss-crossed the room. Her white tentacle arm dangled over the side and she had the look of a child who was about to do something naughty.

"That's LADY Noa to you, you goons." said Noa, switching to a sitting position with her feet dangling over the beam. Her voice was full of malice.

"W-what are YOU doing here?" cried Riserva, who was very visibly shaking.

"Isn't that what I should be asking you?" said Noa, teasingly. "You're supposed to be cleaning the decks, am I right? Or was that order too big for your foolishly little brains?"

"I will not stand here and have you belittle MY team." said Camus, taking up a similarly dangerous tone. He had stood up to his full height, and was looking straight at Noa from below with a murderous look in his eyes. "We are the Hell Hounds-we follow orders from no one but Lady Sherry."

Vermouth and Riserva turned to look at their leader in surprise. Even if Camus acted a bit aloof at times, there was a reason why he was their leader.

"Oh really?" said Noa, whose face now showed a mix of anger and amusement. "You take orders from no one but Lady Sherry? Don't forget the one SHE works under: My brother." Here Noa crossed her arms over her chest, expecting a change in expression from Camus, but Camus held his ground and returned her glare as cold as ever.

"At least we have come closer to defeating the G.A.G. than your brother ever has." said Camus smugly, bringing his signature rose up to his nose.

Noa wasn't pleased with this reply, but nonetheless replied back in a fake, sweet sounding tone: "Is that so..."

"Yes. And with this plot that we have created, the Galaxy Angel Guys are sure to fall this very night."

"Hmmph, quite a loud bark coming from a little dog like you."

Camus didn't reply to this, but simply smiled wickedly.

"By the way..." started Noa again. "Aren't there supposed to be five of you? Where are the other two members? Have they turned tail and run?"

"Ha, if you think that, you surely do not know Guinness and Red Eye enough." laughed Camus. "No, they are on a VERY important mission."

Noa was silent for a while, but then a smile started forming itself slowly on her face. "I see." she said. "I should be telling my brother about all the trouble you've been up to, but it should be fun seeing what will happen... Success or failure, it'll still be a win-win situation for me. I suppose I won't tell him, after all... but that all depends on how much entertainment you'll give me. I'll watch you guys put your plan into motion from the shadows."

"Wait!" said Camus, as Noa was about to disappear into the darkness. "I won't tolerate it if you happen to get involved in our ploy. This is something that we Hell Hounds will accomplish on our own. Don't you dare meddle in our affairs!"

"...Sorry, but that's a promise I can't guarantee that I'll keep." said Noa, simply, jumping away into the darker areas of the room.

After a moment's silence, Riserva spoke up.

"...Can we really trust her-?"

"Of course not." spat Camus. "But that's the best we're going to get out of her at all. Just be glad she hasn't ratted us out-yet."

Meanwhile, back with Takuto and Lester...

The two were currently navigating through a narrow passageway rather unsuccessfully. It was poorly lighted and the pathway was littered with trash.

"Ugh, this route is terrible!" whined Takuto, inching along, not wanting to step in any puddles or walk into any low hanging cobwebs. "Who in the world choose this way anyho-Oh, it was me, wasn't it?" This last part was in response to one of Lester's signature glares. Lester simply sighed deeply.

"...Lester, you're not claustrophobic, are you?"

"Now why would you ask me something like that?" questioned Lester.

"Well, you seem... agitated."

"I am NOT agitated." Lester quickly replied, though his face didn't look it.

It was Takuto's turn to sigh.

"Well... If you say so..." said Takuto, finally. There was a loud crack.

"ARG!" yelled Lester jumping back; which made Takuto do so too.

"Wha-what, what is it?" asked Takuto, looking about wildly. Lester simply pointed to the floor in front of them. A large gaping hole had appeared where the floorboards should be.

"This place is really falling apart..." said Lester, kicking away debris near his feet. "The Hell Hounds wouldn't even need to set booby traps in a place like this. The whole building is one large booby trap... And why are you laughing?" This last part was directed towards Takuto, who was trying to stifle his laughter by covering his mouth with his hand.

"Lester, I'm sorry, but... You scream like a girl."

"WHAT?(!) I do NOT." Lester shot back, offended.

"Yes, you totally do-EYAAAAAAHHH!" cried Takuto loudly, in a high screechy voice as a rather large spider suddenly dropped right in front of his face.

"...You were saying?" said Lester, a look of disdain on his face. Takuto could only laugh nervously.

After a few more steps, the passageway suddenly ended, leading to a very brightly lit room. Takuto and Lester had to shield their eyes as they passed from the dark passage to the lighted room.

"Welcome to our secret hideout, Galaxy Angel Guys!"

"Camus!" shouted both Takuto and Lester, as their eyes finally adjusted and they saw the figure of Hell Hound leader standing above them. Camus was standing on a steel balcony many meters away from where Takuto and Lester stood. Next to him was Riserva, hands folded over his chest looking grave; and Vermouth, holding a remote controller with various knobs and buttons on it. Camus himself was looking very smug, as usual. Boxes littered the room haphazardly, in all shapes and sizes.

"I'm glad you could join us today." said Camus, who was twirling a rose in his right hand. "We've been preparing the place for your arrival. It's fortunate that you were able to pick the right corridor to lead you here."

"Oh, really?" asked Lester, sarcastically. "Were you planning to invite us to a full course dinner also?"

"Not quite," started Camus; "But-"

"You guys can eat LEAD!" butted in Vermouth, flicking a switch on the controller, making a large number of robots burst from the boxes in the room. They looked like mini canons-with metallic wings attached to them. As ridiculous as they looked, they were able to unload a substantial amount of bullets at the two members, and Takuto and Lester had to duck behind a couple of crates nearby, barely dodging the surprise assault.

"Excuse me, I was trying to FINISH my sentence." said Camus, looking miffed.

"Oh come on, can't we just kill them NOW and be finished with it?" responded Vermouth.

"Aren't you forgetting SOMETHING?" said Riserva, roughly yanking the controller out of Vermouth's little hands. "If you're not careful, you might break the disk that they're carrying!"

Vermouth looked angry for a moment, but then his face cleared. "...OH! Right... the disk..."

There was a little explosion as one of the robots… well, exploded.

"Nice shot, Lester!" said Takuto. He and Lester had moved to a different set of crates while the Hell Hound members were briefly distracted. Lester had taken out his laser gun and had begun shooting down the robots.

"What?(!) NOOOOO! MY PRECIOUS!" cried Vermouth, taking back the controller quickly as Lester shot down two more robots. There were eight of them in all—only five were left. The robots quickly began shooting rapid-fire as Takuto and Lester were forced to duck behind yet another set of crates.

"Vermouth! What did I just tell yo-" started Riserva wide-eyed, but Vermouth cut him off.

"It won't hurt the disk if I head-shot them!"

"As much fun as it would be to kill them now," said Camus, having to shout over the commotion of the firing guns. "I would rather keep them alive so we can torture them instead. We haven't even revealed THAT to them yet."

"THAT?" asked Vermouth, hands still fiddling with the knobs on the controller. "Have Guinness and Red Eye finished-?"

"YES." replied Camus, an evil grin spreading on his face. "They're heading back here right as we speak. Oh, what a surprise the G.A.G. will be in for..."

While this was going on above them, Takuto and Lester were still dodging bullets and trying to find a way to bring down the rest of Vermouth's annoying robots.

"Lester, can't you just shoot down the rest?" huffed Takuto, completely out of breath as the two members hid behind a large pillar that was holding up the ceiling of the room.

"Haven't you seen me TRYING?" said Lester angrily, also out of breath. "Vermouth's not giving me another opening..."

"So do we just wait until they run out of bullets?"

"That's what I was thinking... but judging from the clips that those robots have, we'd be more likely to die before that happens..."

Takuto glanced around the room quickly. Looking up towards the ceiling, an idea dawned on him and he began to smile.

"Lester..." said Takuto. "Do you remember that time when we were captured by the Hell Hounds in Eonia's ship?"

"...Yeah?" said Lester, looking somewhat confused. What was Takuto getting at?

"Well... Do you remember how we escaped?"

"Of course I do. It was my idea to shoot at the sprinkler to activate the sprinkler system."

"Annnnnd, robots aren't really waterproof, are they?" said Takuto, grinning widely now. Lester slowly started to smile as he realized what Takuto was planning.

"This better work!" said Lester, sniping at the overhead sprinkler in one swift motion.

"AUGH, NOT AGAIN!" yelled Camus, trying to cover his hair as the sprinkler system went on.

"MY POOR ROBOTS!" cried Vermouth, fiddling with the controller desperately, but it was too late-all the robots had gotten a full blast of water and with a loud bang, all of them shorted out and fell to the ground, lifeless.

"One hit-KO!" shouted Takuto, pumping a fist in the air. He and Lester had gotten under an overturned crate and were using it as a make-shift umbrella. As quickly as the downpour started, the sprinklers quickly stopped.

"MY HAIR!" yelled Camus angrily; trying to wring his sopping wet hair.

"My... clothes." noted Riserva, looking at his ruined coat with annoyance.

"MY ROBOOOTS!" wailed Vermouth, clutching the controller to his chest.

"Did we miss something?"

Camus, Riserva, and Vermouth all looked towards the source of the sound, which came from their left on the balcony.

"Guinness! Red Eye!" said Camus; and indeed it was. They were both carrying something that looked suspiciously like...

"Hey, isn't that-?" said Takuto, his face immediately paling.

"Kuromie! And Prince Shiva!" cried Lester, his face also paling. "How were they able to...?" asked Lester, turning to Takuto.

"As convenient as it would have been to just kill you two here..." started Riserva. "We were only really meant as a distraction while Guinness and Red Eye kidnapped the prince and your little friend. I must say... As tacky as those wristbands were, they did come in handy in the end."

"Oh!" gasped Takuto, clasping a hand over his mouth. "We forgot to tell Kuromie to take off his wristband too!"

"I can see that!" said Lester through gritted teeth.

After a moment's silence, Takuto began to slowly approach the Hell Hounds on the balcony above.

"I can see why you'd kidnap the prince," started Takuto, addressing the Hell Hounds. "But why kidnap Kuromie too?"

"Good question." said Camus calmly. "You see, the Prince will be ours; while Kuromie will be used as a trade-off-The disk for his life."

"Disk? Do they mean this one?" asked Lester to Takuto, taking the disk out from one of the inner pockets in his cloak.

"Aha! There it is!" shouted Vermouth, pointing to the disk in Lester's hand. Lester and Takuto exchanged quick glances at each other.

"Do they really think that this disk contains anything important?" mouthed Lester to Takuto.

"I guess so..." Takuto mouthed back. "Hey, I have an idea!" With that, Takuto took the disk out of Lester's hand and waved it back and forth above his head.

"Do you guys want this?"

"Of course we do, you numskull!" shouted Vermouth angrily. "What did ye' think we went through all that trouble for, then?(!)"

"The disk... for Kuromie's life." said Riserva, repeating the bargain.

"...How about the Prince too?" asked Takuto, twirling the disk on one finger.

"Like hell." said Camus. "We wouldn't dare harm the prince, but we're not going to give him to you either. Now give us the disk or your friend dies here."

"I refuse to give you the disk unless you hand over both Kuromie AND the Prince." said Takuto firmly. Lester glanced towards Takuto worriedly, with a "do you know what you're doing?" expression on his face. Takuto nodded towards some stairs leading up to the balcony, and Lester; understanding, slowly started making his way towards them.

"Never." replied Camus simply.

"Okay then." said Takuto, rearing up like he was about to throw the disk to the ground.

"WAIT!" shouted all the Hell Hounds (except Red Eye).

"Alright, alright..." said Camus regaining his composure. "Let's... negotiate this... peacefully..."

"DUCK!" cried Red Eye suddenly, kicking his teammates down before ducking himself as a concentrated beam of light flew over their heads.

"How'd he get up here?(!)" shouted Vermouth, looking towards the far end of the balcony. Lester was running towards the Hell Hounds at full speed, holding up his gun and firing shots above their heads to keep them pinned to the ground.

"Crap," muttered Riserva. "At this rate, he'll be able to over-take us..."

"Not so fast!" shouted Guinness, throwing Kuromie at Lester just as he was only a few feet from the Hell Hounds. Lester immediately dropped his gun, completely caught off guard as he caught Kuromie in his arms. In the moment it took Lester to regain his senses, the Hell Hounds had already sped off towards the opposite end of the balcony, where a door was located.

"Dammit Guinness, now we've lost our hostage!" shouted Riserva.

"Well, at least we still have the Prince." said Camus, looking thoroughly annoyed. "We can find some other way to get that disk from them."

With that, the Hell Hounds disappeared behind the door and a loud "click" was heard.

Lester, having laid down Kuromie, ran quickly towards the door. Takuto, who had been climbing the stairs all this time, finally reached the spot where Kuromie laid and quickly felt his wrist as Lester approached the door the Hell Hounds had escaped through.

"Thank goddesses he's still alive..." said Takuto, relieved to find a healthy pulse. "He must only be unconscious..." Takuto gave a start here when he heard loud pounding noises. Looking towards the source, he saw Lester pounding angrily on the metal door.

"DAMN IT ALL!" said Lester, finally stopping. "Every time it looks like we've gotten one step ahead, we find out that we've gone two steps back! Those Hell Hounds have Prince Shiva now!"

"Lester, calm down." said Takuto softly, as Kuromie came to.

"...Huh? Where am I?" asked Kuromie, rubbing his eyes.

"Kuromie! Are you alright? Nothing broken?" asked Takuto, hovering over the young member.

"Ugh, I'm fine." said Kuromie getting up rather wobbly. "...What happened?" asked Kuromie, seeing Takuto look somewhat down and Lester look absolutely enraged.

"Well, you first." said Takuto, smiling weakly. "It's... a long story."

"...Alright then." said Kuromie, after a moment's pause.

"All I remember..." started Kuromie, after taking in a deep breath. "All I remember is going back to the ship with Prince Shiva. Shiva kept on going ahead of me, so I guess he remembered where we parked the ship. Space Whale Jr. followed behind me. By the time we got to the ship, it was starting to get dark, and the sun was setting. We went inside, but I didn't even have time to close the door before I blacked out." Here Kuromie made a face.

"It sounds like they ambushed you two." said Lester, who had returned from his door pounding to where Takuto and Kuromie stood. "I'm guessing they must have found out where you were headed, staked out the place before you got there, and then threw some sleeping gas into the ship before you guys could close the door."

"Wait... ambush?" said Kuromie, looking worried now. "...Oh no... Oh no! Prince Shiva! Space Whale Jr!"

"Yeah..." said Takuto, rubbing the back of his neck. Guinness and Red Eye probably ambushed you guys so that they could kidnap you. They were planning to use you as a hostage so they could trade you for the disk; and they were planning to kidnap Shiva to bring to Eonia."

"So they still have Prince Shiva then?"

The two older members nodded sadly.

"Then what about Jr...?"

"Sorry, we only saw Guinness and Red Eye carrying you two..." said Takuto. "I didn't see Jr. at all..."

Kuromie's shoulders drooped at this, but then Kuromie looked up again. "Wait, they wanted to trade me for that disc we stole from the Black Moon? They don't know that it's-"

"Yeah, they don't know." said Lester, butting in quickly. "Be careful what you say here... We don't know if the Hell Hounds are still spying on us or not."

"So what happened to you guys?" asked Kuromie.

"Let's talk about it while we try to find the Hell Hounds." suggested Takuto.

**To be continued…**


	23. Ep 23, Friendship is a Fragile Thing

**Friendship is a Fragile Thing**

"Hmmm, I see..." said Kuromie, after Takuto had finished explaining everything. The G.A.G., now fully grouped together again, were busy walking through more buildings and passageways, trying to locate the Hell Hounds.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened." said Takuto, shrugging. "And here we are now."

"Ugh, after this, I think I'll have had my fill of abandoned buildings for a lifetime..." muttered Lester, trying to locate their place on the faded old map he had torn off a board earlier. "This place is like a freaking maze!"

"Have you tried locating where the door the Hell Hounds went through goes to?" suggested Takuto.

"Of course I have. But like I just said, this place is like a maze. None of the passageways or rooms make any sense! And everything seems to be sprawled all over the place!"

"That... doesn't make sense." said Kuromie, brows furrowed. "Wouldn't that hinder work if the place was THAT confusing?"

"Yeah, one would think that..." said Lester.

"Hmm..." went Takuto, staring at the ground in front of him as they trudged on. Then suddenly, noticing an unmarked door with a large red doormat next to it, "Hey, what's this?" He ran up to it and touched the knob slowly.

"Takuto, what are you doing?" shouted Lester, running after Takuto. Kuromie too went over to see what Takuto had found.

"I wonder where this door leads..." said Takuto, slowly turning the knob.

"Do you think it's safe to just go opening random doors?(!)" asked Kuromie, surveying the door suspiciously.

"Do you think Takuto will ever stop being such a brainless idiot?" muttered Lester.

"Oh come on, guys!" said Takuto, still turning the knob. "This is the first door we've seen in ages! What's the worst that could happen?"

With a final click, the knob was fully turned, but instead of opening, the doormat simply gave way, revealing a dark pit that all three members tumbled into.

"Takuto, I hate your guuuuuuuuuts!" Lester's scream echoed and faded into the darkness.

"Hmm? What's that sound?" asked Guinness.

"It's an alarm that was coupled with one of the booby traps in this place." said Riserva. The Hell Hounds were back in the control room. Riserva calmly switched the alarm off. "That alarm means that the G.A.G. triggered one of them."

"But which one?" asked Red Eye. "And are they still alive?"

"None of the booby traps here were meant to kill." said Camus, looking bored. "Only meant to capture intruders."

"Then where are they now?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out..." muttered Vermouth, annoyed. "Unfortunately, I don't think the particular one they fell into has any cameras down there... Darn it, this place hasn't been used in years and everything's out of whack!"

"Well then, hurry up and fix it!" said Riserva, angrily.

"I only have two hands!" shouted Vermouth, pounding his fist on the control panel. "I'm trying to fix like five things at once here!"

"Everyone, let's just try to get along until we meet up with the Galaxy Angel Guys again." said Camus, holding a hand to his head as if he had a migraine. "How's Prince Shiva doing?"

"We gave him another dose of the sleeping gas." said Red Eye nodding towards the sleeping Prince who was laid on top of a few spare crates. "That should keep him from causing us any trouble."

"Good, just be careful not to kill him." said Camus. "If he dies, Eonia will have our heads for sure."

"Of course."

"…Hey," started Guinness. "Anyone up for a round of blackjack?"

"Not now, Guinness." Said the other Hell Hound members (excluding Red Eye), sighing.

Takuto blinked a few times. Had he gone blind, or was the room he was in really that pitch black? A bright light nearby proved the latter.

"Takuto, are you alright?"

This was said by Kuromie, whose own watch had been the source of the light. He looked worried.

"Ugh, I think I'm okay." Said Takuto. He picked himself off of the ground and brushed himself off. No broken bones, all his joints were working… yup! He was definitely okay. "Wait, where's Lester?"

"I'm right behi—AUGH!"

Lester had to quickly block Takuto's wild swing in order not to get hit in the face. Lester gave Takuto an annoyed look.

"Sorry, reflexes…" said Takuto, raising both hands up in apology. "And besides, it's kind of your fault for sneaking up on me from behind like that." Lester just rolled his one eye at this statement.

"Phew! At least everyone's safe…" said Kuromie, relieved.

"Yeah, but now we're in even deeper trouble…" muttered Lester, folding his arms over his chest. "Not only are we god knows where, we've also lost that map! How the hell are we supposed to find our way to the Hell Hounds now?(!)"

Kuromie directed the light from his watch in all directions. It revealed that the G.A.G. were currently within a very deep and narrow passageway. There was a dead end directly behind them. Takuto strained his eyes to look up, but all he saw was inky blackness.

"That…" he said, pointing; "Was probably where we fell down from."

"Well, duh." Said Lester, still looking nonplussed.

"So the only way we can go now is through that narrow passage…"

"I think this must have been a prison cell…" said Kuromie, bringing attention to the ground. "Look. There are remnants of the metal bars that used to be here."

"I guess that's pretty lucky for us, then!" said Takuto, trying to lighten the mood. Lester was still unmoved.

"Let's just get out of here as fast as we can…" said Lester, stepping out of the broken cell and going ahead into the passageway. "The life of Prince Shiva comes first!"

"Wait, shouldn't I go first since I have the light?" asked Kuromie.

"My eyepiece has a night vision lens attached to it." Said Lester calmly, pointing to the large mechanical eyepatch over his left eye. At the press of a hidden button, a lens flipped out from some hidden compartment and went over his good right eye.

"Neato!" said Takuto, impressed.

"Yeah, whatever." Said Lester, in a bored tone.

Because of how narrow the passage way was, the Galaxy Angel Guys could only go through it in single file: Lester at the lead, Takuto behind, and Kuromie taking up the rear. The passageway seemed to stretch on and on, in one seemingly un-ending mass of blackness. There were no doors or even anything remotely interesting to break the dull monotony of the cold stone walls. After what seemed like an hour, the G.A.G. finally came to a small opening with two paths.

"Does this thing never END?" said Lester, looking very agitated.

"We've come this far—the only thing we can do now is to keep going." Said Takuto, sitting down on the cold floor. Kuromie did the same. Lester, however, chose to stand.

"Great," said Lester. "But what passageway are we supposed to take now? And who knows if they both won't lead to dead ends?"

"I suppose we'll just have to go through both of them if it comes to that." Said Kuromie. "I doubt that BOTH would lead to dead ends… after all, how did the people get down here if that was the case?"

"You mean if they ever went down here AT ALL."

Lester's chilling remark made the two other members shudder and fall silent.

"Let's… try to think of a plan before going on." Suggested Takuto. With this, he closed his eyes in great concentration.

Lester began to pace around the room, as Kuromie stared blankly at a wall. There was a moment's silence as everyone was deep in their own thoughts, when suddenly—

"This is all YOUR fault!"

Takuto looked up, surprised. Lester's finger was pointed accusingly at him.

"What-" started Takuto, but Lester cut him off.

"It's because you stole that damn disk in the first place that we're here! It's because of that damn disk that we had to risk our lives, defusing five freaking bombs, and now Prince Shiva has been kidnapped! And the worst part of it is, that disk is completely blank!"

"Wait, are you blaming me for Prince Shiva's kidnapping?(!)" said Takuto, who was both hurt and outraged.

"Yes, that's EXACTLY what I'm saying!"

"Guys-" Kuromie said weakly, but was interrupted by Takuto.

"Well I'm SORRY that the disk I RISKED MY LIFE TO STEAL was a blank—how the heck was I supposed to know what was on that disk, huh? You tell me. And as for Prince Shiva… none of us could have foreseen that he would have been kidnapped right under our noses!"

"If you weren't such a terrible commander-" shouted Lester.

"Oh, are you attacking my title now too?" butted in Takuto, fully angry now.

"Guys, please stop it-" tried Kuromie again, but his trailing voice was cut off by Lester's angry remark.

"Yes, that's right! You are the worst commander in the world—no, the entire universe! I'm surprised General Luft even let you become one in the first place!"

Takuto was just left with his mouth hanging open in shock, not knowing what to say.

"Lester, that's low!" cried Kuromie, who finally had a chance to speak now that there a slight pause in the argument.

"Yeah Lester; what's gotten into you?(!)" shouted Takuto, shaking with anger. "You of all people should know how hard I worked in order to become what I am today!"

"And yet, here you—WE are, in this dank, slimy passageway." Said Lester simply.

"Lester, I wouldn't have even had the chance to become a commander if Luft hadn't picked me up from my home planet. It was partially luck and hard work that got me here. I do not have to take your insults!"

The two older members turned the backs on each other and faced opposite walls. Kuromie wanted to say something—anything to make things better. But when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. There was a long silence, and then…

"Lester, don't tell me…" said Takuto, staring hard at his friend and partner. "Don't tell me… are you jealous of my position?"

Lester quickly turned to glare at Takuto.

"Me? JEALOUS?" he seemed deeply insulted.

"Well, I mean…" started Takuto. "It's just kind of weird, you know? I mean… you and I were pretty much in the same ranking when we were students at the academy. I was sure that you'd have been able to become a commander too… And yet you're a major."

Lester fell silent for a bit before answering.

"That… is your fault too."

"What?(!)"

"Yes; that's right. That's your fault!"

"How is it my fault?" cried Takuto, trying to defend himself. "Our positions were determined by our overall score that we achieved in school, right? Did you fail the final test or something?"

"No, I got close to a perfect score!"

"Then why-?"

"It's because I CHOSE to be a major so I could be with you!"

Takuto and Kuromie were both left stunned.

"You…" Takuto was finally able to stammer. "You CHOSE a lower position… all so you could explore the galaxy… with me?"

"YES." Replied Lester. "But I regret that decision now."

"Lester-!" shouted Kuromie, but he was cut off again.

"So our friendship means nothing to you now?(!)" cried Takuto, looking deeply hurt. "All those adventures we had together—through the academy and up until now… you really wished that you've never been there to experience that?(!)"

"It was a stupid mistake." Said Lester, in an angry low voice. "I should have followed in my dad's place and become a commander worthy of honoring his death. But no. I had to follow my _feelings_ instead. Look where that got me."

As Lester began to walk towards the left passageway, Takuto made an attempt to stop him.

"Lester-!"

"Don't talk to me!" said Lester through gritted teeth. "We're through. It's over. I'm not your friend anymore. And to think… you still haven't paid me back for the time I bought you milk in the cafeteria…"

Takuto was so shocked he couldn't reply until Lester had already disappeared into the shadows of the passageway.

"W-Well… Fine! Have it your way! I never should have become friends with you in the first place, had I known you were really like this!"

With that, Takuto ran blindly into the right passageway. Kuromie, who was still shocked from what transpired, stood still on the spot for a moment, before his brain began frantically trying to think of what to do next. Should he follow Lester? Or Takuto? Lester would be more able to handle himself if there was any trouble, but Takuto was less hard-headed when it came to persuading. In the end, Kuromie decided to follow after Lester, and quickly ran into the left passageway. Fortunately, Lester was walking at a rather leisurely pace, so it didn't take long for Kuromie to catch up to him.

"Lester! Lester! LESTER!"

Kuromie had to grab onto one of Lester's sleeves to get the older member to stop.

"Lester, what is WRONG with you?(!)"

Here Kuromie punched Lester; though due to the difference in height, his fist only made contact with Lester's midsection.

"Why did you blow up at Takuto like that?(!) That was totally unnecessary!"

Kuromie tried to aim another punch but Lester caught his fist this time.

"If you still have the strength to do that, then help me get out of this place and rescue the Prince."

"Don't ignore me!" shouted Kuromie, angrily. "And are you just going to leave Takuto all alone in this place by himself?"

"I'm sure he can handle himself." Said Lester, strangely calm. "His luck will surely save him—as with all the other times."

"Lester, why?(!)" persisted Kuromie. "You guys were friends… right?"

"Yes, that's right; we WERE friends." Replied Lester, an angry tone in his voice again.

"What happened, then? That made you hate him so much now?"

"You have already seen for yourself! He's a terrible commander! All he does is slack-off! Do you know how many times I had to nag or force him to do his work properly?(!)" Lester continued on his rant, fuming all the while. "Have you seen the way he acts on missions?(!) He can't take anything seriously! It's aggravating! I get the feeling he doesn't even know what's at stake sometimes!"

"But…But isn't Takuto just being himself?" asked Kuromie, in the slight pause where Lester had to catch his breath. "I mean… You should know what he's like, since you're his best friend and all…"

Lester grimaced at the word "best friend."

"If I hadn't met Takuto, I'd have been a commander by now!"

"But is that what you really wanted?"

"Yes, of course! For my father's honor—"

"Is your father's honor is more important than your friendship with Takuto?" butted in Kuromie. "You must have thought that way too since you chose of your own will to be a major! And besides, you need Takuto!"

"No. No I don't. I would have been better off without him."

"Lester, listen." Said Kuromie, trying to calm Lester down. "You should know yourself better than anyone else. You're not the type to make friends. You know that. If you hadn't met Takuto, you would have never had a friend!"

"And?" asked Lester, impatiently tapping his foot. "Your point is…?"

"Think about it! If you hadn't met Takuto, you would still be lonely to this day! Don't act like you aren't afraid of loneliness!" This was in response to the older member's shifting uncomfortably.

"Lester, you told us your story. You've lived a life of loneliness ever since you were born. Your mother was always sick and your father was always away. Even at the academy, you were an outcast because of your injuries. But Takuto… he decided to become YOUR friend. He may not be particularly good looking, but you know that he has a certain charm towards others. That's why people are so attracted to him. I'm betting he was pretty popular in school. But yet… he ditched it all—in order to be with you!"

Lester said nothing in reply and simply leaned heavily against the wall of the passageway. Kuromie continued.

"Don't you guys realize what a wonderful relationship the both of you have? You need him—and he needs you! As you've said, it's because of you that he gets all his work done. You help to keep him on the proper path, and in return he gives you his friendship! You both need each other!"

Lester remained silent. Kuromie sat down, tired from his long tirade.

"You're right." Sighed Lester. "As much as I hate to admit it, I did treasure Takuto's friendship. I guess… I guess I just snapped back there. I made a horrible mistake… Do you think he'll ever forgive me?"

"It's Takuto, of course he'll forgive you!" said Kuromie, beaming as he stood up.

"Yeah… Typical." Said Lester, a faint smile on his face.

"We're sorry to interrupt such a happy revelation…" said a voice in front of them. "But you guys have caused us enough trouble."

"Camus!" shouted Lester and Kuromie simultaneously, when they saw the blue-haired prissy boy in front of them. He was followed by Red Eye.

"You won't be getting away this time!" came Guinness's voice. Lester and Kuromie swung around to see Guinness and Riserva closing up from behind.

"Now if you want a bloodless resolution, you had best cooperate." Said Camus, smiling evilly.

**To be continued…**


	24. Ep 24, Second Chance

**Second Chance**

As Lester and Kuromie were captured by the Hell Hounds, Takuto (unaware of his friends' fates) had stopped to rest. After blindly running through the passageway until he was out of breath, he came upon a large room filled with strange metal boxes lined up in neat rows—generators, perhaps. He sat on an overturned one.

For a while, Takuto mind was filled with angry thoughts. But slowly; one by one, they disappeared and was replaced with a deep depression. He remembered the hurtful words that Lester had shouted at him, and pondered deeply on them.

"Have I… really been taking advantage of Lester's friendship?" Takuto asked to the air. "Lester was always the one who pushed me to become the best I could. If he wasn't there through the academy and through our adventures with the Angel-tai, I wouldn't be here today."

"His nagging was a bit annoying sometimes, but he had good intentions. He wanted me to succeed, and that showed he truly cared. And to think… he gave up a high position just so he could be with me! Have I really bogged him down? Have I been taking him for granted all this time?"

Here Takuto took out the disk that he had first stolen on the Black Moon. His sad reflection looked back at him on the shiny surface. Takuto sighed.

"Maybe I should just destroy this disk once and for all. All it's caused us is misfortune…"

Takuto heard a sound from a far corner and stood up quickly. He then realized that he hadn't taken a very good look around the place, and did so while sneaking towards the origin of the noise.

There were large metal boxes as far as he could see. "These seem to be old computers…" he muttered, as he continued sneaking. Finally, he came to a small opening between all the boxes. What he saw was a large screen and keypad, directly on the wall in front of him. The noise came from a torn cable, which crackled with electricity every now and then.

Takuto approached the large computer cautiously. Although he was scared to mess with anything mysterious-looking now (after the booby-trapped door), his curiosity got the best of him and he slowly turned the computer on.

Meanwhile, Vermouth was busy at the Hell Hounds secret hideout, trying to locate the third G.A.G. member.

"Vermouth, have you found him yet?(!)" Camus's voice echoed from a walkie-talkie nearby.

"I'm trying! Sheesh, just give me some time!" responded Vermouth, angrily.

"Well, what's taking so long?" It was Riserva's voice this time. "It shouldn't be that hard to find a rat."

"It is when all the equipment is close to breaking down!" said Vermouth. "Like I said before—this place hasn't been used in years! Computers and electrical equipment need to be checked on regularly or else they'll just stop working!"

"I want you to hurry up, then!" said Camus's voice. "Find him quickly-"

Here, Camus's voice was cut off as Vermouth turned off the walkie-talkie in annoyance.

"At least let me work in peace…" he muttered, returning to the task at hand. "At least YOU'RE a better conversation partner, Shiva."

Here Vermouth glanced at the Prince, who was still knocked out from the sleeping gas.

"Hmph, I'm kind of sad you're not awake." Continued Vermouth. "It would have been fun to tease you."

"**I'm** still here." Said a girlish voice, causing Vermouth to jump slightly.

"Noa!"

"Who else would it be?" asked Noa, sliding down from the ceiling to land next to Vermouth. Vermouth reflexively backed away.

"What do you want… Noa." Said Vermouth, a note of agitation in his voice.

"Oh, I'm just bored." Said Noa. "You humans always do things so slowly! If you had powers like me, then everything would have been done with already."

"Yes, of course. If we had powers like **you**."

"Ah… that was an insult, wasn't it?" said Noa, a wicked smile on her face. "If you want, I could always lend a hand…"

"No!" shouted Vermouth immediately. "Don't you dare meddle in the plans of the Hell Hounds!"

"I was just _joking_…" said Noa, with a girlish pout. She walked over to Prince Shiva.

"Don't you dare touch him!" said Vermouth, putting a hand on a controller nearby.

"Oh please." Said Noa, disdainfully. "You know I could dispatch those stupid robots of yours so easily."

"Yes, get the hell away from him."

"Camus!" said Vermouth, looking happily at the Hell Hound leader who had appeared in the doorway.

"…We've brought the prisoners." Said Red Eye simply. Behind him was Lester and Kuromie, who had had no choice but to follow behind.

"Prince Shiva!" cried Kuromie, when he saw the Prince lying on the boxes.

"Don't. Move." Said Red Eye, as he and Guinness blocked the two members with their respective weapons.

"What have you done to him?(!)" shouted Lester.

"Oh, don't worry. We wouldn't kill him." Said Riserva flatly. "He's just taking a little nap.

"Yes, Eonia's orders specifically state that he wants the prince ALIVE." Said Camus. "We wouldn't dare disobey it."

"So… the Hell Hounds aren't entirely useless after all." Said Noa, looking at Lester and Kuromie.

"We ARE Lady Sherry's top military group after all." Said Camus smugly.

"Noa?(!) What's she doing here?(!)" cried Kuromie, finally noticing the girl.

"Yeah… why is she down here?" said Lester, echoing Kuromie's thoughts.

"That's what I want to know myself…" said Riserva, eyeing Noa with hatred.

"Oh, you silly, silly Hell Hounds!" said Noa, playfully. "I just sneaked on-board your ship when you weren't paying attention."

"So you've been spying on us the entire time we've been on earth?(!)" cried Vermouth, shocked.

"Well… yeah." Replied Noa, in an almost bored tone.

"What's done is done, and there's nothing we can do about it now." Said Camus, changing the subject. "Now leave us in peace so we can locate Takuto."

"…Fine." Said Noa after a moment's silence. "You guys seem to be doing alright so far—I'll leave for now."

With that, she slithered back into the darkness of the ceiling above.

"Ooooh, so this was a hacker's base!" said Takuto.

He had come to this realization after playing around with the large computer for a few minutes.

"It all makes sense now!" continued Takuto, still talking to himself. "No wonder this place is such a maze! From the outside, it looks like an ordinary industrial building, but it's all just a façade! Its main purpose was to act as a base for a large group of hackers. That explains all the booby-traps around here too…"

Amazingly, despite years of being unused, the computer was still functional.

"So… this computer is the main hacking device, huh? It looks like it was used to steal funds from businesses and corporations. I wonder…"

Takuto moved the mouse cursor over to an unmarked icon, which loaded up a program.

"I see… so this was the hacking program they used… I wonder if it still works."

As he continued to stare at the screen, the words "Please insert a company's code to begin the process" flashed.

"A… company code?" said Takuto, using the curser to click on a question mark. Reading the details in the new window it opened, Takuto thought aloud, "So… I'll need to insert a code in order for the program to understand what company it's attacking. I can also insert a disk from said company for the computer to scan, although the success rate of identification is only about 40 percent…"

Takuto quickly remembered the disk he had stolen and whipped it out.

"Would this work? Well… only one way to find out…"

Takuto put the disk into the computer slot and waited for a few minutes while the computer scanned the disk. The words "Identification successful" flashed.

"…You've got to be kidding." Said Takuto in amazement. "That actually worked?"

The computer then switched over to a complex screen filled with mostly text and a few buttons here and there.

"…wow, I don't actually know what I wanted to do with this… Still, I'm glad it worked, I guess!"

Takuto was about to turn off the computer when he noticed a button saying "money transfer."

"…This is too good to be true." Said Takuto.

"Have you found him YET?" asked Camus impatiently.

"Geeze, I said wait a bit!" said Vermouth in annoyance. "And besides, you asked me that question like twenty times already!"

"Well… 17 times." Said Guinness.

"…"

"I counted!"

Riserva and Red Eye both shook their heads and sighed.

"The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can deliver Shiva to Sherry… and Eonia." Said Red Eye, looking over towards the still-sleeping Prince.

"How about we just take the prince and leave the G.A.G. to rot here?" asked Guinness. "I mean, we've already captured two out of the three… that's good enough, right?"

"The disk, Guinness." Said Riserva. "You're forgetting the disk."

"It would have been nice if they had the disk on them." Said Camus, looking bored. "But unfortunately, the only member we've been unable to find so far happens to be the one who has it."

"Oh…" said Guinness, looking dejected.

"Aha, I've found him!" said Vermouth.

"Where… where is he?(!)" asked Riserva.

"There aren't any cameras in the place, but there is a communication system there. After looking through all the rooms and narrowing it down, I'm pretty sure Takuto's in there."

"…PRETTY sure?" said Camus, looking miffed.

"Well, there's one way to find out. Hey, snot-face!" Vermouth yelled into a nearby speaking device.

"Huh, what?(!)" cried a startled Takuto. He had just put the disk back into his pocket.

"Hey, a response!" said Vermouth's voice. Takuto looked about wildly until he spotted a strange device with some kind of speaker and phone attached. Quickly realizing that it was a speaking device, he said into it, "What have you done with Prince Shiva?(!)"

"Shouldn't he be more worried about his friends—oof!" It was Guinness's voice this time. The "oof!" at the end apparently came from someone elbowing him in the ribs to shut him up.

"My friends...? What have you done with Lester and Kuromie?"

"Dammit Guinness, we were saving that bit for later…" said Camus's voice. "Well, there's no use hiding it now that you know. But yes, we have your friends. We haven't done anything to them… yet."

"Don't you dare lay a finger on them!" shouted Takuto.

"Relax, relax. We won't hurt them… if you cooperate with us."

Takuto immediately realized what the Hell Hounds wanted.

"You guys are after the disk, right?" he asked.

"My, my; still smart as ever." Said Camus. "Yes, what we want is the disk. If you choose to cooperate, we MAY release them."

Takuto gritted his teeth. It wasn't that he was particularly worried about giving up the disk—they could have it for all he cared. After all, it was just a blank. No, he was more worried about his friends, and about Camus's last statement. How would he know if the Hell Hounds really intended to release Lester and Kuromie? The Hell Hounds weren't exactly trustworthy. And besides, he could just be walking right into their trap…

"So are you going to cooperate or not?" asked Camus's voice. He seemed to be growing impatient.

"…Fine." Said Takuto finally, in resignation. "I'll cooperate. Just tell me where to meet you so I can deliver the disk.

"Good boy." Said Camus, a hint of satisfaction in his voice.

By following the directions Vermouth had given him through the speaker, Takuto approached a clearing. He had been walking for a few minutes now, though he still couldn't think of any plan to get him and his friends out of this mess. The Hell Hounds had the upper-hand in nearly every way. Both his friends were most likely imprisoned, and even then they were out-matched in terms of numbers. The Hell Hounds had much more leverage than he did in this situation—the only thing keeping them from killing him outright was the useless disk he had on his body.

Takuto wondered if it was all going to end like this as he made his way into the clearing, which revealed a large room, with a large square covering in the middle. Above him was the Hell Hounds, who were standing atop yet another platform.

"This all seems so familiar, doesn't it?" asked Camus, twirling the rose in his hand. "I could have sworn that something like this happened before…"

"Cut the crap, Camus." Said Takuto. "You're not going to try to shoot me again, are you?"

"Oh no… Please forgive me for that earlier incident." Said Camus, in a fake tone of remorse. "You see, Vermouth can be a little trigger happy sometimes…"

Vermouth huffed angrily but said nothing.

"Now. Please kindly give us the disk."

"Let me see my friends first." Said Takuto, standing his ground.

"Ah, right. We have to give him a little incentive, don't we?" Here Camus gave a signal to Red Eye, who nodded and pressed a button on the far side of the wall.

This caused the square covering to slide back, and Takuto had to quickly step back not to fall in. What it revealed was a large pool filled with deep water. A covering over the ceiling above also opened up, and two large metal cages slowly slid down.

"Lester! Kuromie!" cried Takuto, when he noticed what was inside.

"Ah, it's Takuto!" said Kuromie to Lester.

"Run for it, Takuto!" shouted Lester. "Save yourself!"

"Save yourself? Isn't that being rather chivalrous for someone in your position?" asked Camus.

Takuto glanced at the cages again. Although they were moving very slowly, they were still inching closer and closer to the water.

"You don't mean to drown them?(!)" said Takuto, his voice full or worry.

"Yes, that's exactly what we're going to do!" butted in Guinness. "Unless you give us the disk!"

Takuto gritted his teeth. Meanwhile, Kuromie and Lester looked at each other in worry from their prisons.

"Stop hesitating." Said Riserva. "Your friends' lives are at stake! You don't exactly have much time to play around here."

"…How do I know that you really will let them go after I give you the disk?" asked Takuto, pulling it out of his pocket.

"What use are they to us after we have the disk?" responded Camus. "After all, we already have Prince Shiva. After we have the disk, we'll let them go and quickly make our exit—there won't be anything you can do about it. And just as insurance, we'll blow this place up… with you three in it."

Takuto stared hard at the ground. "Alright then. But let one of them go first."

"Hey, we have your friends here!" said Vermouth. "You aren't exactly in any position to negotiate-"

"Just do it." Said Camus, looking bored.

"Huh?(!) Wouldn't that be dangerous?" asked Vermouth.

"Don't worry." Camus replied calmly. "We already confiscated the two's weapons and gadgets. And there's no real way to get up to this balcony from this room. We'll be safe."

"Let's release Kuromie first, then." Suggested Riserva. "He's the weaker of the two."

Red Eye nodded and pressed another button. This opened the lock on Kuromie's cage. Kuromie quickly kicked it open, jumped into the water, and swam towards where Takuto was standing.

"Kuromie, are you alright?" asked Takuto, helping the boy out of the pool.

"I'm… fine." Said Kuromie, catching his breath. His hat had gone missing during the confrontation with the Hell Hounds earlier. "Fortunately, they didn't hurt us… much."

Camus yawned. "It's nice to see you two have your reunion, but we really would like the disk. NOW."

"Fine, you can have your disk!" shouted Takuto, tossing it towards Camus's head. It whizzed towards him like a frisbee. Camus screamed and ducked, as Red Eye deftly caught the disk.

"Ugh, how dare you!" he cried, quickly regaining composure.

"Let Lester go!" shouted back Takuto.

Camus motioned towards Guinness, who pressed the button on the wall in Red Eye's place. The lock on Lester's cage opened, and Lester quickly jumped out and swam towards his team members.

"Takuto… I'm sorry." He said, as he was helped out of the pool by Takuto and Kuromie.

"It's fine, it's fine!" said Takuto, grinning. "We'll deal with this later. Right now, we have a bigger problem…"

All three members of the G.A.G. looked upwards at their enemies, who seemed to be holding a mini-celebration.

"Let's get out of here, then!" yelled Guinness. "I'm sick of this place!"

"Alright, alright." Said Camus, pocketing the disk. "So long, Galaxy Angel Guys!"

"Oh no, Prince Shiva!" cried Kuromie. The two older members looked at each other with their brows furrowed. "What are we going to do?"

"You're just going to leave them here like that?" said a loud, clear voice.

"…Noa?" said Takuto, startled.

"Noa!" cried Lester and Kuromie, exchanging worried looks.

"NOA." Said Camus, swinging around to face the girl. She seemed to have appeared out of thin air behind him. The other Hell Hounds already had their gaze fixed on her. "I thought I told you not to interrupt our plans!"

"I'm NOT." Said Noa, playfully. "From the looks of it, you guys have already finished your plans. You won't mind if I… give it a proper ending, do you?"

With that, Noa pulled out a gun.

"That's one of the emergency guns from our ship!" gasped Vermouth.

"What do you plan on doing with that?" asked Camus, as the other Hell Hounds began to take defensive stances.

"Don't worry, I'm not planning on shooting YOU." Said Noa, maliciously. She quickly pointed the gun at Takuto and pressed the trigger.

"Takuto, look out!" shouted Lester.

But it was too late. A laser shot out of the gun and straight through Takuto's chest.

"Takuto, nooooo!" cried Kuromie in horror.

Takuto lurched forward and fell into the pool. He felt the darkness quickly swallowing him up. He was rapidly losing blood and consciousness, and wondered briefly if this was going to be the end of his life. Just as his eyes were about to close, the star necklace around his neck flashed, creating a bright white light that engulfed him.

Takuto opened his eyes slowly. His hand reflexively went to the hole in his chest, except… it wasn't there!

"Wha-?" he said, getting up quickly. That's when he noticed that he hadn't been lying on solid ground. Instead, he was… floating? Takuto looked about him. Where was this place, exactly? It felt as if he was in a large bubble of white light. Sometimes he saw a few swirls of color out of the corner of his eye.

"It's been a long time since I've had a human visitor." Said a soft voice. Takuto quickly turned towards the source. The voice belonged to a young-looking girl with long white hair. She was wearing a simple, flowing white dress with a hood. Her expression was solemn.

"W-who are you?" asked Takuto. "And where am I?"

"Me?" asked the girl. "I am simply a spirit that lives in the necklace you wear around your neck."

Takuto reached up to touch the necklace but found that it was gone.

"The necklace serves as a portal between your world and this one." The girl continued. "Which brings me to your next question—this place is a gap in the universe."

"A gap… in the universe?"

"That is correct. It is a place where time and space cannot reach."

"Then… then am I dead?" asked Takuto, feeling faint again.

"No, but you almost are." Said the spirit calmly. "As I said, this is a gap where time and space can not reach. In your world, you are about to die. But I rescued your spirit and consciousness before you fully expired."

Takuto just stared blankly into the distance.

"I know this may be hard for you to take all at once, so I will let you gather your thoughts."

"Why… why did you rescue me?" asked Takuto after a long silence.

"It's my duty as the spirit of the necklace." Said the spirit. "I am to protect and grant the wish of whoever wears it."

"What? You can grant wishes?"

"Of course. I am the spirit of wishes, after all. There are many of these necklaces scattered throughout all of the universe, and even some in alternate dimensions. As long as the necklaces exist, it is my duty to grant wishes."

"But what if someone evil happens to get a hold of one of necklaces?"

"Ah, you're a smart one." Said the spirit, nodding to show that she was pleased. "No matter what the person, I must grant their wish. Good or evil—I do not care."

"But isn't that reckless?" asked Takuto.

"I must obey the orders of the one who wears the necklace no matter what the wish. That is the fate bestowed on me."

"So then, you're a prisoner of this world…" said Takuto. The spirit said nothing in reply, so Takuto continued. "You can grant ANY wish?"

"Within my power." Said the spirit. "Of course, I can not make anyone a god or anything of the sort. And there are other rules I must follow."

"Rules?"

"First and foremost, the one who wears the necklace can only have ONE wish. After that, the necklace will disappear. Also, for every wish, payment must first be paid."

"…Payment?"

"Oh nothing that you humans usually use as payment, like 'money' as you call it. No, the payment is more like… conditions that must be met. The greater the wish, the more conditions there are."

"So I'm guessing that bringing me back to life will require a very large condition…?"

"That is correct."

"Fine." Said Takuto smiling. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

The spirit looked at him quizzically, perhaps wondering how someone could look so happy knowing that their life was at stake. Nonetheless, she said, "Okay."

"Bringing people back from the dead is no small feat. Even though you aren't technically dead, it will still take a lot of power to heal that fatal wound of yours."

Takuto nodded to show that he understood.

"In order for me to revive you, I must see if your closest friends want you back."

"Huh? You don't mean Lester and Kuromie?"

"That is correct." Said the spirit. "But I am not simply going to ask them. That would be too simple. Instead, I will test them. I will put their consciousness into a hypothetical scenario—an alternate universe of sorts. An alternate universe where you don't exist."

"If it's an alternate universe where I don't exist, then how will they know-?"

"If they truly care for you, Takuto, then they will realize that all they are seeing is an illusion. Let us begin."

With that, it seemed as if two screens appeared in front of Takuto and the girl. Both screens ran simultaneously, and showed what Lester and Kuromie's lives probably would have been—had Takuto not existed.

Lester's dad did not die when defending his home planet against meteors. His mother was still weak from her illness, but she did not fall into a coma. Lester never lost his eye. When he grew up he was enrolled into the military academy. On graduation day, he became a commander of his own fleet, much to the joy of his parents.

Kuromie was still an orphan, but he was eventually adopted by his care-taker, Miss Suzuki. Miss Suzuki eventually married, and Kuromie had a little sister named Melissa. He never once met the Space Whales nor learned of his ability to talk to them. Instead, he lived his childhood as any normal, happy child would.

Takuto felt as if there was a heavy stone upon his stomach as he watched all of this. After a while, the spirit turned towards Takuto, her face remaining solemn.

"Well, your friends have spoken. They have not even once remembered you, being too enthralled by their own selfish desires."

Takuto was silent.

"Are you perhaps saddened that your friends have forgotten you so easily in the face of their illusionary joy?"

"…No. Not really."

The spirit was taken aback by this answer. "You're not even the slightest bit upset or angry?"

"How can I be angry when they're so happy?"

"But it is a false happiness! And you're fine with this?"

"I… can not be mad at them for what they choose." Replied Takuto, picking his words carefully. "Even if it is painful to see this, I can not stay mad at them. I have known them longer than you have, and they are not selfish people. They both have met misfortune all their life, so I do not blame them for believing so much in this illusion of yours."

"…You know what this means, though; don't you?"

"Yes… Yes I do."

The spirit nodded solemnly and raised her hand.

"So be it. Since the conditions are unfulfilled, your wish can not be granted. Today… is the day a man by the name of Takuto Meyers dies."

"…I see." Said Takuto sadly. He felt his consciousness slipping away again. "So this is death… My only regret is that I never got to say goodbye to those two."

With that, his body faded into nothingness.

**To be continued…**


	25. Ep 25 Finale, A Star Named Hope

**A Star Named Hope**

Lester woke up suddenly.

It was morning… or at least, that was what the clock next to his bed indicated. Lester quickly got out of bed and opened the blinds. What he saw was the darkness of space. Slowly, he remembered where he was. He was the commander of a space fleet—why wouldn't he be in space?

He rubbed his two healthy eyes and quickly got dressed. He had his duties as a captain, after all.

At around the same time, Kuromie was also getting up.

"Good morning, big-brother!" said his step-sister Melissa. She had gone into Kuromie's room and was sitting at the end of his bed.

"Morning, Mel…" said Kuromie, groggily. He looked at his younger sister. She had dark-brown hair—similar to that of his step-mother's. However, her eyes were a dark blue, instead of green like Miss Suzuki's. She had inherited her blue eyes from her father, Thomas.

"Big-brother; you should get down to breakfast!" chastised Melissa. "Mummy's waiting!"

"Ah, right; the school festival!" said Kuromie, remembering. "I'll be right on down! You go on first, Mel."

With a girlish giggle, Melissa ran out of the room.

"Commander Lester!"

This was said by a low-ranking soldier.

"We're almost out of fuel… perhaps we should land and re-fuel?"

"Well… if we must." Said Lester, who at the head of the ship. "I was hoping to patrol the outer galaxies today, but it's best to be safe rather than sorry. What's the nearest planet?"

"It's… Forestia." Replied the soldier.

"Very well, then. Make way for Forestia!"

Kuromie was milling around at his booth. The school festival had been going-on full swing, yet his club's booth hadn't really had much business.

"You look pretty down today, Kuromie." Said a girl classmate.

"Oh, it's nothing, Jessica." Said Kuromie, faking a smile.

"Is it because our club hasn't had much business?"

"No… nothing of the sort…"

"Well, since we don't have much business at the moment, perhaps a small walk around the grounds will cheer you up?"

"Eh? But I can't leave you guys here to man the booth all by yourselves!"

"Don't worry about it!" said a boy student. "We can handle it just fine. Right guys?"

The other club members shouted their agreements.

"Well… alright." Said Kuromie, leaving the booth. He walked for a length, past many colorful stands selling food or set up with games. His parents and sister would come later that day. It was going to be fun showing his sister around the fairgrounds! But yet… he felt an emptiness that he couldn't quite place his finger on.

He was living a perfectly happy life—he had everything he ever wanted. And yet… there it was, this deep sadness. He didn't understand it one bit.

"It's not that I don't appreciate my family…" said Kuromie to himself, sitting on a bench a ways from the fairgrounds. "I just… feel as if there's a large part of my life I'm missing…"

"Commander, why don't you take a short walk around?" asked Almo.

"Huh? Why should I?" Lester responded back.

"Well… it has been quite a long time since we've been on land again. Everyone seems to be enjoying the change of scenery."

Lester sighed.

"It's just that you seem so depressed lately… perhaps a walk will do you good." Continued Almo, looking sincerely concerned.

"Yeah, I guess it would. Almo, take care of the ship-work for a bit, will you?"

"I'll be glad to, sir!"

With that, Lester exited the large spaceship. It did make him feel a bit better to have his feet on natural ground again, though he still felt a nagging sadness within him.

Walking aimlessly without looking at where he was headed, he soon noticed a bench with a boy sitting on it. A few yards away was some sort of fair.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" asked Lester, sitting next to the boy.

"Oh!" said Kuromie, startled to see a strange man appear next to him. After taking a quick look at the man's uniform, Kuromie realized that the man was a space commander.

"A-ah!" said Kuromie, quickly getting up to bow.

"No need for formalities, kid." Said Lester. "I'm only a space commander—I'm not royalty. You don't need to bow to me."

"Ah… I see." Said Kuromie, sitting back down. "Oh, about your first question… I actually run one of the booths in that fair over there." Kuromie pointed towards it. "I just wandered out here because I was feeling a bit… down."

"It's odd for someone as young as you to be depressed." Said Lester.

"Y-Yeah. I know." Responded Kuromie. "But I can't help feeling this great sadness inside me. As if there's a part of me missing…"

"…You know." Said Lester slowly. "I think I feel the same way."

"Huh? But you're the commander of a space fleet! It's one of the highest positions in the galaxy—at least, one that you can achieve without being royalty. You get to have all kinds of adventures in space! You should be happy!"

"…I should. But I'm not." Here Lester sighed. "I also feel as if there's something bigger out there that I'm missing."

The two people fell silent for awhile. Suddenly, Kuromie looked up at the older man, as if he were trying to remember something that wouldn't—shouldn't have happened.

"You are… Le…Lester?"

Lester looked up in surprise.

"How do you know my name, Kuromie?" Lester gasped at the same time Kuromie did.

"See, you know my name too!" said Kuromie, a sudden realization dawning on him.

"But how is that possible?" said Lester, shaking his head in disbelief. "We've never met each other before!"

"No, that's not quite right…" said Kuromie, furrowing his brow in deep concentration. "It's hazy, but… I seem to remember us being together at one point… along with another person. I think his name was Ta… Tako…?"

"Takuto?" said Lester.

Suddenly, Lester's and Kuromie's memories all seemed to come flowing back to them at once.

"Oh my goodness… Takuto!" cried Kuromie. "He was shot! He… he…"

"He died." Said Lester solemnly.

"We… we don't know that!"

"What other explanation is there?" asked Lester. "We both saw it with our own eyes. Noa shot him… and then he fell into the pool! That's the last thing I remember..."

"But then… what is this place?" cried Kuromie. "What's going on?(!)"

"I think… this is a test."

"A test?(!) What for?"

"I don't know…" said Lester, running a hand through his hair.

"Maybe… maybe this is a test to bring Takuto back?" suggested Kuromie, but Lester remained silent.

"Well, either way," continued Kuromie. "This is all just an illusion. No wonder I felt that empty feeling inside. Although I believed I was happy, my consciousness knew that something was missing. And that missing part was Takuto. We have to give up this illusion to save him, Lester…"

Lester continued to be silent.

"We have to save Takuto! Even if it means… even if it means having to give up the perfect family I've always wanted…" Here, the younger boy's voice trailed off, and Lester looked at him in surprise. Kuromie had tears in his eyes.

"No, I have to be strong!" said Kuromie, quickly wiping away his tears. "I can not be selfish! Takuto was never selfish when it came to us. I have to do the same for him."

Kuromie looked at Lester expectantly, but the older member was looking hard at the ground. That's when Kuromie noticed that Lester wasn't wearing an eyepatch.

"Oh… Oh. Lester, I… understand if it's hard for you to let go of this illusion. You've… suffered more than I have."

"No, that's not quite right." Said Lester, suddenly standing up. "You can not compare a person's suffering so simply. Even though you may think your suffering is smaller compared to mine; nonetheless, you have still suffered."

It was Kuromie's turn to stare at the ground. Lester raised a hand to his left eye longingly, but dropped it quickly.

"What's done is done. And there's no changing the past." He said, sighing deeply. "Even though it's painful to leave this place, it is still an illusion. Everything here is just a lie—just a manifestation of our deepest desires. Only a coward runs away from reality to hide within his dreams. We must bring Takuto back."

The younger boy beamed.

"Yes, we must!" said Kuromie happily.

"Whoever you are out there that's doing this… we want Takuto back, you hear? We've had enough of your illusions!"

"That's right! Although it's been really fun, this has gone on long enough. We want our own lives back. Our misfortunes might have been painful, but it's what makes us who we are today. I wouldn't have it… any other way."

Back in the gap in the universe, the spirit of the necklace had been watching the two through the screens. Although the conditions hadn't been met and the wish called off long ago, she still felt compelled to keep watching for some reason. When she heard their declarations, her eyes widened in honest surprise.

"Amazing…" she said, her face still unchangingly solemn except for her eyes. "For them to have broken free of the illusion after being immersed in it for so long… and for them to throw all their happiness away to save their friend… Takuto, you are one lucky man."

With that, the spirit waved her hand again, and a small glowing orb appeared in it.

"Go, Takuto. Go back to the world below. Your friends have spoken with their hearts. Such powerful friendship is a rare thing these dark days. I hope that you will all learn to treasure it all the more."

With that, she sent the orb through a small opening at the bottom of the bubble of light.

Lester and Kuromie blinked in unison and looked at each other. They were both standing in front of a pool of water, with the Hell Hounds standing on a balcony above them. Although they were unsure of what had transpired, they somehow felt that they understood each other more than ever.

Meanwhile, on the balcony, Noa was giggling, still holding the smoking gun. Camus turned to face her angrily.

"It didn't have to end this way!"

"Oh come on," said Noa, exasperated. "Aren't you guys supposed to be the villains here? And yet you get upset when I can actually kill one of them."

"If anyone's going to kill the Galaxy Angel Guys, it will be the Hell Hounds—on our own terms!"

"Since you guys were just planning on 'blowing up' this building with them in it, were you really planning on killing them? I mean; what's to stop them from escaping?"

Camus just gritted his teeth. The rest of the Hell Hounds weren't looking too pleased either. Suddenly, Noa looked towards the pool with a concerned look on her face.

"Did any of you guys…" said Noa slowly. "Feel like a long amount of time has just passed?"

The Hell Hounds looked at each other quizzically.

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Riserva.

Suddenly, there was a large splashing sound that came from the pool, startling everyone.

"Takuto!" cried Lester and Kuromie, as his head popped out of the water, gasping for air.

"H-how is that possible?(!)" cried Vermouth, as the other Hell Hounds were too shocked to say anything.

"It shouldn't be!" said Noa, enraged. "I killed him! And I'll kill him again!"

"Not so fast." Said Red Eye, as he swiftly took the gun away from her.

"Who's side are you on?(!)" cried Noa.

"As I said before…" said Camus, smugly. "The only ones who can kill them are us, the Hell Hounds."

"You're all idiots!" shouted Noa. "Every single one of you!"

As this in-fighting was going on above them, Lester and Kuromie were both busy hauling Takuto out of the pool and hugging him.

"I can't believe you're still alive—I don't care that it doesn't even make sense!" sobbed Kuromie happily.

"Yeah… don't you dare scare us like that again!" Lester was a little better at restraining his emotions, but he still couldn't help smiling.

"Eh, you guys…" said Takuto, grinning. "If you guys don't give me some room, I'll catch a cold and die!"

"You just had a near-death experience and all you can say is that?(!)" exclaimed Lester.

"That's our Takuto!" said Kuromie.

"Guys, I'm really happy to be alive too, but…" stammered Takuto. "How are we going to get out of this mess?"

It felt like a candle being doused with water as the two other member's smiling faces turned to frowns.

"Uh… good question." Said Lester.

"I miss Space Whale Jr…" said Kuromie in a small voice.

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise and the whole building shook.

"What's that?(!)" shouted Guinness.

"An earthquake?(!)" shouted Riserva.

The roof above them gave way to reveal—a spacepod!

"Hey, isn't that OUR spacepod?" asked Takuto to Lester and Kuromie, who just had their mouths open like goldfish out of water.

"But… how in the world did it get out here?" said Lester finally.

"Oh! Space Whale Jr!" said Kuromie happily, pointing to the window of the spacepod. Indeed, Space Whale Jr. was there, mewing happily.

"What?(!)" exclaimed the two older members and most of the Hell Hounds.

"But… how…" sputtered Lester.

"Eh… we'll think about that later!" said Takuto hastily. "Let's make our get-away before the Hell Hounds fully recover!"

"But what about Prince Shiva?(!)" cried Kuromie.

"Oh crap, we have to rescue him, don't we?" said Lester through gritted teeth.

"I'm right behind you—no thanks to you guys!"

The three Galaxy Angel Guys members swung around quickly. The voice belonged to Prince Shiva! Albeit a very annoyed looking one.

"Y-your highness!" said Takuto. "How did you escape from the Hell Hounds?"

"It wasn't THAT hard." Said Shiva. "Since no one was guarding me."

Camus turned an angry eye upon Guinness. "Wasn't it YOUR turn to guard the Prince?"

"Uh…" muttered Guinness, looking guilty. "Sorry boss, I guess I forgot."

"How could you forget something like that?(!)"

"Well, no one else remembered!"

As the Hell Hounds continued in-fighting, the G.A.G. and Prince Shiva quickly took the chance to clamber on-board the spacepod.

"Shi—I mean, you highness, are you feeling alright?" asked Kuromie, noticing the younger's somewhat drunken movements.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." Said Shiva. "I'm just a little bit groggy from that sleeping gas…"

Meanwhile, Takuto and Lester were busy trying to operate the spacepod.

"Alright, time to lift-off!" said Takuto.

"Space Whale Jr, I'm sorry I tried to eat you all those months ago." Said Lester, looking at the Space Whale calf. "You're not so useless after all."

Space Whale Jr looked pleased.

"They're getting away you buffoons!" cried Noa. "Do SOMETHING!"

"…It's too late." Said Vermouth, as the spacepod shot away into the skies.

"…Oh well." Said Camus, smiling. "It would have been boring for them to have been destroyed so easily." The other Hell Hounds slowly nodded in agreement. Noa just glared at them.

"…I'm telling my brother about this!" she threatened.

"…Fine." Said Riserva. "We'll take whatever punishment he gives us."

"Uh, we will…?" asked Guinness, who was immediately elbowed by Riserva.

Noa glared at them for a while longer, before finally giving a loud "hmph!" and turning her back on them.

"Let's go back the fleet." Said Camus.

"Are you coming with us, Noa?" asked Vermouth. "Since you DID hitch a ride and all."

Noa glared at the Hell Hounds some more, but nonetheless reluctantly followed them as they made their way to the exit.

"Takuto, how in the world did you survive that?" asked Lester, who was at the wheel.

"Yeah; you'll have to tell us!" said Kuromie, hugging Space Whale Jr. tightly.

"Survive… what?" asked Prince Shiva groggily.

The three teammates gave each other quick glances.

"Uh… maybe we'll talk about this later, guys." Said Takuto, and the other two members nodded to show that they understood. It was probably best not to worry the Prince about what had happened! Fortunately, Shiva was still too dazed to care, so there were no objections to this.

"I think… I'll walk around a bit in the back." Said Takuto.

"Knock yourself out." Said Lester. "Just be careful not to accidentally open any doors or anything—unless you want to get sucked into space."

With that, Takuto made his way to the back section of the spacepod, which was meant for storage. It was small, yet separated from the main room. Although Takuto was glad to be in the company of his friends again, after having a near-death experience, all he wanted was some time to muse.

"Oh… the necklace is still here!" said Takuto, who had reached up to touch it. He quickly took it off to get a better look at it. Although the necklace was still… _there_, it looked as if it was slowly starting to fade away. The chain dissolved, and the star pendant floated in the air. With a final flash of white light, the spirit of the necklace appeared before him again.

"I… wanted to see you one more time before this portal completely disappears." Said the spirit, her face still solemn.

"Ah, I wanted to see you one last time too!" said Takuto happily. "I still can't believe what had happened… This is something we'll be talking about for years!" Takuto looked happily towards the main room where his friends were.

"…Takuto." Said the spirit, after a pause. "Your friends won't have any recollection of what happened in that place."

"Huh? But why?"

"Do I have to keep reminding you about this? My residence is a gap in the universe, where time and space do not reach. Humans are mortal creatures; without time and space, it's as if the whole thing never happened."

"But…"

"Trust me, Takuto. It's better this way. I don't think your friends would be very happy to remember how selfish they were."

"So what do I tell them?" asked Takuto.

"You can tell them anything. It doesn't matter anymore once the necklace finally disappears."

"…I guess this is goodbye, huh?" said Takuto, looking a bit sad.

"Yes." Said the spirit. "But… I'm glad I met you." When Takuto expressed surprise at this, the spirit continued.

"You restored my faith in humanity. I thought that your world no longer had any good or honest people anymore. But I suppose people like you still exist somewhere out there."

Here, the spirit fell silent, so Takuto spoke up.

"Will you ever be free from granting peoples' wishes?"

"As long as the necklaces exist, then no."

"Well… thank you for saving my life." Said Takuto, smiling.

"…You're welcome." Said the spirit. "I must go now. Farewell."

"Wait! At least tell me your name!"

"My name is much too complex for a mere mortal to understand. Its power alone could destroy you."

"Then can I give you a human name?"

"I don't see why not."

"I'll name you 'Hope!'" said Takuto, a wide grin on his face.

"… 'Hope'… That's a nice name." said the spirit, smiling. With that, she faded away, leaving a trail of stardust that also soon faded away.

"You're free from this world now… Hope." Said Takuto, looking out the window as a beautiful shooting star passed the ship.

"I bet Lady Sherry's going to be pretty pissed at us now, huh?" said Vermouth, as he and the rest of the Hell Hounds were in their spaceship, flying back towards the Eonian fleet. Noa sulked in a corner.

"Whatever will be will be." Said Riserva calmly.

"Oh? A message from Lady Sherry!" said Guinness, noticing the flashing button on the dashboard. He pressed it, and the screen changed from blue to the face of an angry woman.

"A-ah, Lady Sherry…" started Camus nervously, but Sherry cut him off.

"What the hell are you guys doing?(!) I'm pretty sure that plan of yours doesn't cost 50 million dollars!"

"Huh?(!)"

"You heard me! Out account has been debted 50 million! What the hell are you guys trying to do with that amount of money?(!)"

"Bu-But WE didn't spend that much!" said Guinness. "…Did we?"

"Of course not!" said Camus. "With that amount of money, we wouldn't have to resort to such cheap plans—we could just nuke them with an atomic bomb if we had wanted to!"

"Uh guys, I think I know what happened." Said Vermouth, holding up the disk they had gotten earlier. "I think… I think they were somehow able to hack into our systems using this as a tracer."

"So they're the ones who stole from us?(!)" cried Riserva, fuming.

"Well… that's not all. The disk we worked so hard to get all this time… is a blank."

It took a moment for the rest of the Hell Hounds to wrap their brains around what Vermouth had said, but when they did…

"AUUUGH, DAMN THOSE GALAXY ANGEL GUYS!" shouted Guinness.

"WE SHOULD HAVE KILLED THEM WHEN WE HAD THE CHANCE!" added Riserva.

"LORD EONIA WILL PUNISH US FOR SURE!" sobbed Camus.

"…How noisy." Said Red Eye, in a far corner.

"I can't believe… you were actually able to hack into the Hell Hounds' account and steal 50 million dollars from them." Said Lester, still at the steering wheel.

"Well… a little computer knowledge goes a long way!" said Takuto, looking proud.

"It still doesn't feel right to steal from them like this, though…" said Kuromie, as Space Whale Jr floated beside him.

"They deserved it for all that happened today." Said Lester, looking at Shiva, who had gone back to sleep again. "I guess he's still feeling the effects from that sleeping gas…"

"So… does that mean our debt is fully paid off now?" asked Kuromie.

"I suppose it is." Replied Takuto.

"But then… What are we supposed to do now?"

"We're the Galaxy Angel Guys! There's always missions to do!"

"Unfortunately." Put in Lester.

"No matter what happens, as long as we're together; I think we'll be okay." Said Takuto.

The other two members nodded in agreement, as their spacepod docked into the base. Kuromie happily exited first, while Lester stayed behind to pick up Prince Shiva. Looking up, he saw that Takuto had also stayed behind.

"Oh… Lester." Started Takuto. "Before I forget, here." With that, he shoved a small pile of coins into Lester's hand.

"Eh? What's this for?" asked Lester.

"It's payment…" said Takuto. "For that milk you bought me all those years ago."

"What?"

"With that, my debt is finally paid. You don't have to stay friends with me any longer if you don't want to…"

"Takuto, you are an idiot if you think I chose to stay with you all this time simply because of some chump change." Said Lester flatly. "You're my… best friend. Well, you're pretty much the only friend I have. So I guess we'll be stuck together for another few years."

"…Lester!" cried Takuto happily, running towards his friend to give him a hug. Lester quickly kicked him out of the way.

"…Sorry, hugs are still a little too gay for me."

"…It's okay!" said Takuto, crumpled over in pain.

Lester sighed and helped Takuto up. With that, the two older members happily exited the pod, as the stars shown brightly in the skies. What other adventures will the Galaxy Angel Guys have? Will Eonia and the Hell Hounds someday strike again? Will Takuto and Lester ever be free from eachother? Only time will tell.

**FIN**

**Final Notes:**

Yes, it's finished! Although I initially had more adventures planned for the guys, I think 25 chapters is long enough for any fanfic! If I had the time and leisure, I'd definitely write a better ending for this. I mean… the ending was really cheesy and full of DUEX EX MACHINA. But this was the ending I planned on using over two years ago, so I stuck to it. At least it's somewhat fitting, I hope?

This will probably be my last fanfic on the site (unless I decide to do that HE one) since I'm trying to go towards more original writing, soooo… I guess this is goodbye? I don't really know what else to say, so I'll just say thank you to anyone who has read this far! Thanks for your time!


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